“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Carly asked. Trooper appreciated that she was giving him an out, but he didn’t want to take it. At the same time, he couldn’t watch her face. He dropped his gaze to the table.
“My friend Hank and I were assigned to the case. The two of us were hired at the same time and just clicked, the way people do sometimes. We spent a lot of time together after work up until Hank married and even after that, he and his wife had me over a lot. She called me the other day.”
“You sound surprised that she would call.”
“I am, I guess. She should hate me.” Trooper flinched, then shook his head. “Sorry. I know that sounds like survivor’s guilt speaking. I’ve heard a lot of psycho babble in the last few weeks. All the doctors want to tie my reaction to Hank’s and Audrey’s deaths in with what happened to my parents twenty years ago. Survivor’s guilt times two. Supposedly that makes my situation worse. But sometimes survivor’s guilt is justified.”
“True,” Carly said. Her voice wasn’t quite steady, and Trooper looked up quickly, only to discover that Carly was looking down, running her fingertip along a tiny scratch in the tabletop.
“You blame yourself for not saving Eric,” he said flatly.
Carly didn’t look up. “Sometimes,” she said. “Even though logically I know I did all I could, there’s a little voice down deep that keeps taunting me, saying I should have done more.” Her face flushed even as she huffed out a little laugh. “I don’t know why I’m even talking about my feelings. My situation with Eric pales beside what you’ve gone through.”
Trooper swiped his hands one last time on his jeans, then reached across the table and grasped her hand. “You can’t quantify survivor’s guilt. The shrinks kept trying to get me to say that I felt worse about not saving Hank or little Audrey because I hadn’t saved my parents. That’s a bunch of bull. Besides, I’m not even sure those doctors know what survivor’s guilt feels like. If you haven’t experienced it, can you know how it feels?”
Carly met his gaze. “I doubt it. I suspect everyone has to face their own particular problem and learn to deal with it in their own way.”
Trooper nodded. “I know what you mean. You’re trying to find the man who’s guilty of abusing Eric and shut him down, while I’m trying to clear my mother’s name. Coincidentally, our goals intersected and our paths have merged.”
“True, but you’re still burdened by recent events. We got sidetracked while you were talking about the typography of the North Carolina mountains. Do you want to continue to talk about that?”
“Yeah, I do,” Trooper said. “You see, the problem for Hank and me was that the kidnapper had taken Audrey to his house, which was perched halfway up the side of a mountain. It was early April, and the trees hadn’t fully leafed out yet. There was no way to get to the house without him being aware that we were approaching, but we had high hopes of talking him down. We hadn’t factored in his craziness due to his meth addiction. We’d called for back-up, and both Hank and I were hunkered down in a bank of rhododendrons on the edge of the road, waiting for the negotiators to arrive, when—”
A sharp tapping on the back door interrupted him and accelerated his heart rate. Carly’s hand, which he still held, twitched as she jumped in her chair. She reclaimed her hand and twisted around to gaze at the door leading outside. “It’s barely dawn. Who in the world can that be?”
Trooper stood. “I’ll check,” he said as he headed across the kitchen floor. He would have felt more comfortable if he’d had a gun on him, which might seem silly to some people considering the peacefulness of Holly Grove. But he was more aware than most that evil lurked somewhere in the town.
Carly had also stood. “See who it is before you open the door,” she told him.
“I will.” Venetian blinds covered the top portion of the door. He grasped the wand and twisted to open the blinds, but he couldn’t make out more than a form standing outside.
“The switch there by the door turns the porch light on,” Carly said.
He nodded, then flipped the switch. “Good grief. It’s Marge Abbott.”
“Are you sure? I’ve heard she never goes outside her house.”
“It’s Mrs. Abbott all right. Shall I let her in?”
Carly rushed to join him in peering out the window. “Poor thing. She looks terrified. Something could be wrong at her house. We’d better see what she wants.”
Trooper responded by unlocking the door and opening it slowly. He wasn’t sure he trusted Marge Abbott. She’d given every appearance of being unbalanced in the days since he’d returned to Holly Grove, and he didn’t want to give her an opportunity to cause mischief if that was her aim.
Carly obviously felt no such reservations. She smiled at Marge. “Mrs. Abbott, do come in. I hope this doesn’t mean that your husband is unwell.”
Marge took a tentative step into the kitchen. She wore an old-fashioned cotton duster and a pair of terrycloth scuffs. Her voice hitched around a frog in her throat as though she rarely spoke. “Ralph’s fine. He doesn’t know I’m here.” She slowly looked around the kitchen, then frowned. “This doesn’t look like it did when the Jarvis family lived here.”
Carly took a step back. “I made some changes after I bought the house.”
Marge nodded once. “I like it.” She sighed. “I’m sorry I broke your window. I never meant to. Ralph says we have to pay for it, and I’m willing. Ralph doesn’t make a lot in the barbershop these days, but I’ve got some money put back. I don’t ever go anywhere to spend money. I’ll pay.”
“That’s not necessary,” Carly said. “Why don’t we sit down at the table? Trooper and I just finished a cup of coffee. Would you like one?”
“Mostly I just wanted to talk to Trooper.”
Trooper captured Carly gaze and widened his eyes, silently asking how she wanted to handle this strange situation. She gave him a quick smile, then grasped Marge’s arm and steered her toward the table. “At least have a glass of juice with us. Or water if you prefer.”
“Coffee would be all right I guess,” Marge said. “I haven’t slept much, so I could use a pick-me-up.”
“Sugar or cream?” Carly asked. She was already pouring a fresh mug of coffee.
“Just black,” Marge replied. “Would you join me, Trooper?”
Trooper took the coffee from Carly and set it on the table in front of Marge. She wrapped her hands around the mug for a few seconds before lifting it toward her lips. Coffee almost sloshed over the side. “I’m a little nervous,” she murmured, carefully placing the mug back on the table without tasting the coffee.
“No need to be,” Trooper assured her as he sat down across from her. He glanced at Carly. “Are you joining us?”
She hesitated. “Maybe Mrs. Abbott would prefer to talk to you alone.”
Marge spoke up. “No, you can stay. I guess since you and Trooper are so close, you know all about what happened twenty years ago.”
“Yes, I know about it,” Carly said as she slipped into a chair beside Trooper. “And I’m sorry for your loss.”
Marge blinked rapidly for a second. “Nobody says that to me anymore. Not many people said it back then. Everybody thought my Larry was a murderer.” She shifted her gaze from Carly back to Trooper. “I want you to know, Trooper, that my boy didn’t kill your mother and father. I believe that with all my heart.”
“I believe it too, Mrs. Abbott,” Trooper said softly.
Her eyes widened and her color, which had been rather high, faded. “You do?”
“I do. And I hope to prove that Larry is innocent.”
“I reckon you also want to prove your momma is innocent.”
“Of course. But I think the two go hand in hand.”
She nodded once, then grimaced. “I owe you an apology, Trooper. I always wanted somebody to believe in Larry but I never thought it would be you.”
Trooper held her gaze. “I never thought Larry was guilty, but I was little mor
e than a boy myself back then and had no way of exonerating either Larry or my mother. I hope to change that now.”
Marge placed both hands flat on the table and pushed herself up. Trooper wondered if he was being fanciful, but he couldn’t help thinking that Mrs. Abbott looked twenty years younger than she had when she appeared on Carly’s back stoop that morning. He also got to his feet.
“I’m glad you made the effort to stop by and talk to me, Mrs. Abbott. If I find a way to uncover the truth after all these years, you’ll be one of the first to know.”
A smile tugged at the corners of her lips, then faded, leaving Trooper with the impression that smiles for Mrs. Abbott had been few and far between over the past twenty years.
But her eyes appeared brighter and her voice stronger as she turned to speak to Carly. “I appreciate you letting me in this morning. I wasn’t sure you would, and I couldn’t have blamed you if you didn’t. But I appreciate it.”
“Feel free to come back anytime, Mrs. Abbott,” Carly said. “My door is always open to you.”
Mrs. Abbott smiled fully, then turned and made her way to the door where she paused and looked back. “You’re a good man, Trooper Myers, and your momma was a good woman. Neither her nor my boy deserve to have their names tarnished. I’m depending on you to remove that tarnish.”
She didn’t give Trooper time to respond. She just slipped out the back door and disappeared in the murky light of dawn, leaving Trooper to reflect that she’d just given him even more incentive to discover what had really happened all those years ago.
Chapter 20
Carly had watched Trooper’s face during Mrs. Abbott’s visit and realized—even if he did not—that his ability to ease the woman’s mind had also brought him some degree of relief. She was thrilled that Mrs. Abbott had worked up the courage to leave her house and confront Trooper.
She was sorry, however, that Trooper hadn’t had a chance to finish sharing the details about his last assignment with her. She felt sure that talking about it would have been good for him, but now he obviously had other things on his mind.
He turned from watching Mrs. Abbott leave, then heaved a sigh. “Now I really have my work cut out for me. I can’t live with myself if I fail Mrs. Abbott in the way that was done twenty years ago.”
Carly walked over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Two things, Trooper. One, you’re not an unskilled, eighteen-year-old boy now. And two, you’ve got me on your side.”
She realized that the second part of her statement made her sound overconfident about her own abilities, but she wanted him to realize he was no longer alone. “Do you know what you want to do next?”
“Well, we need to reschedule our trip to Knoxville to look at those newspaper archives, but that’s not high on my list of priorities now. First I really need to get with Tommy and hopefully take a look at the supposed suicide note that was found beside Larry’s hand. I’m going to try to do that today.”
“I’m eager to see that note myself if you’ll allow me to. As a writer, I might be able to examine the language and syntax and make some sort of informed decision about the age of the writer.”
“You’re more than welcome to read the note if I get my hands on it. I’m just praying that Tommy actually had a copy and if he did, that it hasn’t been misplaced or thrown away years ago.”
“He said if he had a copy, it would be at his dad’s house, right?” Carly asked.
“Yeah, along with the other stuff he left there from his high school days. He married right after graduation, or so Aunt Myrna told me. I was gone by then.”
“So you didn’t stay around to graduate?”
“Nope. I couldn’t face a ceremony when my parents weren’t going to be with me, so I left.”
“I can understand that. But you must have been terribly lonely.”
“I was fortunate to be able to live with an uncle in Knoxville. As you know, Mom was one of eighteen children.”
“Yes, Myrna told me all about her family one of the first times we met. She was commenting on how many nieces and nephews she has. She said she’d never had any shortage of young people around her even though she never married and had no children of her own. She did hint that she’d had an unhappy ending to a romance when she was young but she didn’t elaborate.”
Trooper’s eyebrows shot up. “This is the first I’ve heard of something like that.”
Carly shrugged. “It’s possible I misunderstood her. Anyway, are you going to try to catch Tommy at home before he leaves for work?”
“No, I’ll wait until midmorning and drive out to the dealership. I need to visit Uncle Joey anyway, and I should be able to touch base with Tommy at the same time. If he can lay his hands on the suicide note, I won’t have to bother the sheriff again.”
“That makes sense,” Carly said, then wrinkled her nose. “I, unfortunately, have to write for a while today. I’m getting behind on my schedule, but if I write for a few hours, I should be able to devote some time to research.”
Trooper placed a hand on each of Carly’s shoulders and gazed into her face. “I really appreciate what you’re doing to help me, but I don’t want you neglecting your career.”
“I won’t, but your quest is much more important than my writing. For all we know, that monster may still be out there preying on some young man in Holly Grove.”
Trooper’s jaw clenched. “I pray you’re wrong but we’ve got to assume you’re right. I just wish I had a better idea of where to look.”
Carly rested a hand on his cheek. “It’s been twenty years, Trooper. You’re not likely to find an answer overnight.”
“No, but I’m afraid I won’t find an answer at all.”
Carly tapped his cheek gently, then dropped her hand. “Don’t take a defeatist attitude. After all, we have a few clues, which is more than you had to start with.”
“Thanks to you and Eric, we have one significant clue. We just have to be careful with it. I’d love to go out and ask people if they know anyone whose nickname is Pap, but then word might get back to him and he could disappear.”
“True. We’ll just have to keep our ears open and maybe do some more digging. How about high school yearbooks? Sometimes people wrote little notes in them.”
Trooper frowned. “I’m not following you. How could a note in a yearbook help?”
“I’m thinking that since this man was an authority figure, he could be someone from the high school—a teacher, a coach, even an administrator. If that were the case, some student might have written a note saying ‘Thanks, Pap, for all you’ve done for me over the last four years.’ I realize it’s a long shot and maybe not worth our time.”
“I agree that it’s a long shot, but long shots have paid off before. I’ll ask Tommy if he still has his yearbook. I left mine behind when I drove out of town twenty years ago. There’s no telling where it is now.”
“You might ask Myrna if she has it.”
Trooper nodded. “She might. I told her to take anything she wanted out of the house after I left town. I never asked her what she took.”
“Now might be a good time to ask. I know you worry about upsetting Myrna, but I think she might welcome an opportunity to talk about what happened after you left town. However, she probably hesitates to bring up that period of time for fear of upsetting you.”
“You may be right, but frankly, if I started talking about it and Aunt Myrna started crying…” He paused and gulped. “My mom was Myrna’s favorite sister, you know.”
“I know. But she’s a strong woman, probably stronger than you realize. I don’t think you need to worry quite so much about upsetting her.”
“You’re right. Myrna is one of the strongest women I know. I’ll talk to her today. But first I think I’ll go for a run. It’s still early enough to be relatively cool outside. Want to come along?” He grinned.
Carly wrinkled her nose at him. “Gee, thanks for the invitation, but I’m going to have to pass. I have
more important things to do.”
“Such as?”
“Sit and drink coffee.”
Trooper’s grin broadened. “I thought you might say that. In any case, I need to go across the street and get my running shoes. And I need to leave you alone so you can get some writing done. Why don’t you call me later today when you’re free? We’ll make further plans then.”
“Okay. Come on, I’ll walk you to the front door.”
Carly started to turn but Trooper pulled her into a quick hug, then gave her a meaningful look. “Thanks for everything you’re doing to help me. It means a lot.”
“No thanks are necessary. What we’re doing is as much for my peace of mind as yours. If we find out who murdered your parents, I’ll know who destroyed Eric’s life and I’ll feel less guilty about having failed him.”
Trooper nodded, then headed toward the front of the house. “I’d better get a move on or it will be too hot to run.”
“Right.” Carly followed him down the hallway and opened the front door for him. “I’ll call you later.”
Trooper dropped a brief kiss on her lips, then turned and loped down the sidewalk and across the street. Carly watched until he disappeared up the steps leading to Myrna’s front porch. She stepped back into the hallway just as FluffBall appeared from the direction of the living room and began brushing up against her leg.
“Hungry, are you, Fluff?” Carly asked as she leaned over to scratch the cat’s head. “Come on to the kitchen then, and I’ll give you some breakfast.” She welcomed the interruption because feeding FluffBall gave her another excuse to stay downstairs a few more minutes. She dreading going back to her office and trying to immerse herself in her current novel. Everything that was going on in her life right now was much more interesting than the trials of her heroine, but she had a contract to fulfill, which meant she had to buckle down and get to work, which she would do just as soon as she got FluffBall fed.
* * *
Trooper was pleased when he let himself into the house to discover that Myrna was still in bed. He left a note to let her know he’d been home but was going for his run. He then changed clothes and exited the house, pausing on the front porch to stretch before setting off on his run.
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