Almost Home

by Clemmons, Caroline

Coy left his bicycle parked up close behind the Phifer’s garage. He knew how to get in through the side door. He found the key in the hiding place. Mr. Phifer had shown him a hidden key so he could leave things if they weren't home. He opened the door and went into the garage.

  He didn't know why he called Miz Gwen by her first name but not her husband. A lot of things that puzzled him he just had to let be.

  At last the Phifer's car pulled into the garage, but Coy waited until the garage door was down before he showed himself. Miz Gwen let out a little yelp when she saw him.

  "I'm sorry, Miz Gwen, but I got somethin' real important to give you."

  Weariness and worry must have caused her to speak more sharply than she intended, because she grumped at him.

  "Coy, not now. This has been a horrific couple of days."

  "Miz Gwen, I'm not trying to sell somethin'. I got a message for you." Timidly, Coy handed her the note.

  Mr. Phifer hurried over and looked kind of mad at Coy. Before Mr. Phifer could speak, Miz Gwen waved his protests aside.

  "It might be news of Link." She took the note from Coy and unfolded it. "Turn on the garage light, will you, Forrest?"

  She read the note and big tears ran down her face. Before she handed the note to Mr. Phifer, she hugged Coy.

  * * *

  Coy had pedaled his bicycle two blocks away from the Phifer home before Sheriff Gary Don's car pulled along beside him.

  "Say, Coy, isn't it an odd time to be selling things to Gwen Phifer?"

  Coy panicked. He never could lie. Mama said it was sinful, but he knew he needed to now to help Link.

  "I had to wait for her 'cause she wasn't home." There, that was true.

  The big man eyed him suspiciously, "You weren't in church this morning. You sick?"

  "No." It embarrassed him to miss church, even though Sheriff Gary Don made him go to that little church across the river instead of the big Methodist one Mama always went to. He wondered who told Sheriff Gary Don, though.

  "Sometimes I just miss. I'll go next Sunday. I'll tell Pastor I'm sorry."

  There, that was true, too. He was doing real well but it worried him the sheriff had stopped him in the street like this.

  "I came by to see you last night and you weren't home, Coy. Where you been hiding?"

  "I been campin' out. You know I like to do that sometimes in the summer."

  Coy looked around as his panic increased. Sheriff Gary Don's voice sounded all funny-like. Coy didn't know what to do. He should get away, though, he knew that.

  "Well, I'll be seein' you, Sheriff Gary Don."

  "Wait just a minute. Let's see what you got in that cart of yours." The sheriff parked his car and climbed out. He walked over to examine the cart. He poked at the clothes, the shoes, and a first aid kit.

  His eyes narrowed. "Where'd you get these?"

  Coy faced a dilemma. He had never lied to anyone. "I found 'em in the dumpster by the J. C. Penney’s store."

  He'd have to go to church next Sunday for sure now. He hoped Mama in heaven could understand why he had to lie. "Sometimes I find real good stuff there."

  "Yeah, well they look too big for you. What you figurin' to do with them?"

  "Oh, they aren’t for me. I can trade 'em for something else sometime. I save good stuff like that cause that's not what Miz Gwen buys and I cain't sell it at the recycle place neither."

  The sheriff still looked at Coy like he didn't believe him. Coy knew Sheriff Gary Don didn't really trust no one, not even Miz Twyla Sue.

  "You going home now?”

  "No, I believe I'll just ride on my way now and camp out some more while the weather’s nice. Be seeing you."

  Coy exhaled with relief as he pedaled away. He was afraid Sheriff Gary Don would make him go home. His little house was a long ways clear across town from the cave.

  The sheriff waited until Coy was a half block away before he radioed the car watching the Phifer residence. "Why don't you slip over on South Elm and follow Coy. He's acting real strange, even for him. Let me know where he goes."

  Chapter Forty

  Ricky floated in a haze of white light. Voices came to him. He tried to speak but couldn’t form words. His eyes refused to open more than a slit.

  From the smells and sounds, he knew he was in a hospital. The steady beat of the heart monitor near his head reassured him. Tubes stuck in the back of each hand connected to a pole nearby. From some distant place a P.A. system requested Dr. Hale answer a phone call.

  He had no knowledge of how he got there. He willed himself to move. Nothing happened.

  The flight from Boo and Al surfaced in his memory. He also remembered Dixon holding him on a log as they crossed the swollen river. He’d thought they would die right then. He had no memory after the river.

  He spotted a deputy seated near the curtain, one leg crossed over the other while he read a magazine. A guard? He knew what that meant.

  Had Dixon turned him in? He doubted that, since the man helped him like he did. No, he remembered Dixon saying something about his surprise Ricky was another agent undercover.

  So, Dixon was also undercover. And something very bad was wrong here. Otherwise, why would that lazy gringo cop be sitting there?

  At least he didn't fail this time, not entirely. They had double-crossed him and he had let Jenkins down. The man's death weighed heavily on his conscience. He didn't know what happened with the girl, but she must have been a part of it all somehow.

  She had been trashy but nice. They didn't talk much when they danced. It had been an escape for both of them, he guessed, to spend a few carefree hours at Papa Jack's. When he heard about her death, he figured they would try to frame him for it since he had been seen dancing with her for several weeks.

  He was partly right. Maybe now they would be including Dixon. He wondered how they were supposed to have done all this. He listened. In addition to the noises of the Intensive Care Unit, he caught phrases of the nurses' conversation.

  "...stole the Deputy's uniform."

  "...never would have thought it of Lamar Dixon's son."

  "...Dixon just disappeared into thin air."

  "...amazing they can't find a trace of him."

  Relief seeped into Ricky’s tired soul. So, Dixon got away. Maybe there was hope for both of them. He could sleep easier now.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Link watched Coy turn onto the cemetery road. From his perch, he also saw what he knew to be an unmarked patrol car a block back. The car slowed to give Coy time to get up the hill. To Link's surprise, Coy went past the cemetery road nearest the cave. He continued to a group of graves at the other end of the cemetery.

  Coy parked his bicycle and cart at the side of the road and knelt by one of the graves as if in prayer. The patrol car eased past the cemetery and continued over the hill. Since that road continued for only another block or so, Link knew the car would soon return.

  Maybe Coy knew it too. He continued his graveside vigil.

  Five minutes passed, then ten minutes. The patrol car crept past, rolled back to the main road, and was soon out of sight. As soon as the car disappeared, Coy rose and returned to his bicycle and retrieved a bundle from it. When he reached the inside of the cave, he hurried to the chair and sank onto it, almost in a state of collapse from nerves.

  "Lordy, I didn't know that car was a follerin' me till I was almost here. Oh, my, oh, my. I sure was scared when I saw it in my bike mirror. Then I 'membered Grandma Cox. That's my Grandma buried down there. I put flowers on her grave sometimes."

  "You did a good job, Coy. Did you find Gwen?"

  "Oh, yes. I had to wait a long time, though. She sent you some clothes and a pair of Mr. Forrest's shoes. See, she colored them with one of them magic markers so the white don't show, not even that Nike thing. She had a real good plan too."

  While he listened to Coy, Link stripped and eased into the clothes furnished by his sister. Although he tried to hurry, his movements were slow a
nd awkward. Thank goodness Gwen sent loose fitting sweat pants for him.

  Link knew Gary Don would not be easily fooled by Coy's actions. The sheriff knew Coy was afraid of the dark and would probably show up at any time. As quickly as possible, he dressed and put on Forrest's running shoes.

  Coy explained Gwen's plan. "She said for you to go to that teacher lady's house what's friends with Miz Kathy. This is the good part, I think. Tomorrow morning, she'll bring her store van to the lady's house and pretend she's deliverin' a table. Then she'll put you inside the van and take you to Fort Worth." Coy beamed as if he had thought of the plan himself.

  Link tied the shoes. A little narrow, but good otherwise. "That's good Coy, now how about the phone?"

  Coy dug in his pants pocket for a small cellular phone. He looked troubled, but handed the phone to Link. Quickly, Link switched the phone on. Nothing.

  No dial tone.

  No sound.

  No battery.

  Coy looked as if he were about to cry. "I'm sorry, Link. I dropped the phone when I was hurryin' away from Sheriff Gary Don. Please don't hit me. I'm sorry."

  Link felt as if he'd been slapped himself. "Coy, neither I nor anyone in my family has ever hit you. You did your best. We'll have to make do. At least I have clothes and shoes that aren't too small."

  He hobbled to the boards blocking the cave and peered out. Link recognized the white sheriff's car from the highway. "Here comes Gary Don. He'll be looking for you as well as me now. Do you know where this cave goes?"

  "Ye...yes. It comes out at Madison Street right above my mama's old house. Poppa took me through it once, but the dark scared me so much I cried."

  "I know you don't like dark, but we need to go through the cave to get away from the sheriff."

  Coy shook his head and backed up a couple of steps. "You know, caves is darker than just plain dark like you see outside. Poppa and me had to come back another way cause the cave was too scary."

  "I know it won't be easy for you, but through the cave is the only way we can escape the sheriff."

  "I cain't do it, Link. I got my bike and cart here to protect."

  "We'll have to leave them here. Come on, Coy, we have no time to lose." Link picked up the clothes and shoes he had just removed and balled them together. With those in one arm, he grabbed the broom handle for a walking stick. "You have a flashlight here?"

  "Right here in this box." Coy poked into a large box and pulled out a new Maglite. "Here it is. Don't make me go back in that dark part, Link. You know I'm scared of the dark."

  They heard tires crunching on gravel. Link looked out of the cave again. The sheriff's car stopped at the entrance to the cemetery then pulled up the road. It would be only minutes before Gary Don turned around to come back to the cemetery.

  "We have no time to lose. Gary Don is almost here. If he finds you, he'll know you helped me and he'll hurt you. He'll hurt you bad this time and then lock you away." Link hated to scare Coy, but feared he spoke the truth. Gary Don would not take kindly to anyone crossing him, even kinfolk as simple as Coy.

  Coy backed up, almost in tears again. "No. I don't want to go in that dark place. I can’t do it, Link. It scared me so before with Poppa."

  Link took a deep breath and urged him back into the cave depths. "I'll be with you. You trust me, don't you?"

  "I trust you, but...but I don't like dark places."

  Headlights flashed as the car drew close and stopped. Coy followed Link's gaze and gasped. Two men got out of the sheriff's car.

  "Oh, no. It is Sheriff Gary Don. Oh, no. He's walkin' like he's mad, real mad. Oh, my. Oh, my, he’ll lock me up for sure now." Coy turned and hurried toward Link. "Okay, I'll foller you. Don’t leave me."

  Link tried to sound reassuring. If only Coy weren't so slow. "Hold on to my back pocket, Coy. Don't think about the dark. Just follow me and the flashlight beam. We'll be out before you know it."

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Scratching sounds awakened Jason. Two glassy eyes peered at him. He yelped and scooted further back. He imagined a monster--or maybe a panther or a wolf. The luminous eyes came closer, then stopped at his backpack. Then Jason remembered he'd been so hungry and tired when he came, he'd left the lid off the cookie tin.

  Whatever the eyes belonged to wanted cookies.

  Jason felt the empty drink can beside his hand. He aimed at the place he last saw the eyes and where he thought the cookies would be and let fly. He heard a thunk and the sound of scratching claws in scurried retreat.

  Afraid to follow, but afraid to stay unless the monster returned and decided to eat him, Jason edged further back in the corner. Tighter and tighter he pressed himself against the back wall into a frightened ball. With a whoosh, the weather-weakened cardboard gave way under the pressure of his body. Jason tumbled out onto the leaves and grass.

  He heard more noises, saw lights flashing here and there. What was happening? People must be looking for him, but which people?

  Now what could he do? Where could he go? Who could he trust to help him?

  Anna!

  Maybe Anna would know what to do. She never treated him like a baby. Maybe she would listen to him now. He slipped through the dark, terrified of who or what waited to pounce on him in the night.

  At a tall, thick clump of pampas grass, he paused to see if the street was clear. He knew people were looking for him, knew he mustn't let himself be found yet. Sure enough, a deputy in a patrol car sat parked around the corner.

  Suddenly he shook all over. What if the sheriff's deputies caught him? Would they take him to his grandparents--or to jail? Jason turned and hurried through his yard, out the back way near the hill.

  Getting across the street without being seen was the hardest part. Creeping from hiding spot to hiding spot, he chose the darkest part of the block, halfway between the streetlights, to cross. To help fight his fear, he pretended he was a famous spy and the patrol car was sent from the forces of evil. He didn’t exactly understand who the forces of evil were, but action movies always mentioned them.

  He darted from shrub to shrub until he reached the Bennett's house, approaching from the side opposite where the forces of evil parked. Jason slipped into the shadows of the front porch and rang the bell. No one answered. He rang again.

  Maybe Anna was too asleep to hear the bell. As near as he could figure, it was the middle of the night. Where could he wait until morning when Anna got up? He couldn't sit on the front porch like he did when he and Anna talked. Someone would see him.

  Like a shadow, Jason darted off the porch and around the side of the house. He scooted a planter over to the fence so he could reach the latch. In seconds he stretched up to open the gate and slipped through the six-foot redwood fence. Quietly, he closed the gate behind him.

  Not until he was inside the screened-in back porch did he relax. Maybe glassy-eyed monsters couldn't open the screen doors. Maybe the forces of evil wouldn’t think to look for him here.

  Big cushions covered several pieces of outdoor furniture inside the porch. He chose a glider swing. With a large woven throw, Jason covered himself so that only his head showed.

  He settled down to wait for Anna to make noise in her house. Now hunger rumbled through his stomach. He wished he hadn't bolted off without his backpack. He hoped Anna waked up soon.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Anna slumped with fatigue when Vince stopped the car in front of the Bennett's house. They had both searched hours for Jason. How could a seven-year-old boy disappear from his own home? Where could he hide?

  Anna could think of a million places he hadn't hidden. She, Vince, and others had poked into them tonight.

  She heard Vince exhale a weary sigh as he walked her into the house. He needed something warm in his stomach before he went to his apartment. She offered coffee and scrambled eggs.

  Vince collapsed into the nearest lounge chair. "Well, we know he must be all right. Tommy found his back pack with some cookies and a soft
drink."

  "Vince, I'm still worried. He wouldn't have left the backpack there unless something frightened him. He wouldn't have left at all unless he was terribly scared."

  Anna went straight to the bathroom to clean up. Twigs stuck in her hair from combing the woods near the Dixon home and streaks of dirt decorated her clothes.

  This weekend had started so nice. Now it had turned into a nightmare. First that cop Link disappeared, then that Dallas detective Mick Dixon showed up. Worst of all, poor little Jason had run away. What catastrophe could happen next?

  Maybe Link had taken his son with him. She doubted that could have happened. She and Vince and the Dixon family had gone over a dozen possibilities, including the possibility that the slimy sheriff held the boy in exchange for his father.

  When she came back through, she said, “I almost fainted when Mick Dixon showed up. All the college chancellor needs is to hear about our past and my job will be history. Plus, who knows what Kathy and her family will think?”

  “Yeah, when he followed us to the car, I figured he would accuse us of being mixed up in his nephew’s disappearance.”

  “He scared me, asking us how we were connected to all this. I mean, Kathy’s father had already told him.”

  “He figured we had something else to do with it, though. I hope he’s satisfied we’re innocent bystanders here.”

  Anna hugged her arms. “Do you think he’ll tell the Dixons or the press?”

  Vince shrugged. “If he were going to say anything to them, I think he would have by now. Supposed to be a good detective, but I never came across him in court. Wouldn’t that have been odd if I had?”

  “Kathy said he’s been retired several years. Probably he retired while you were in law school. Either way, there’s nothing we can do about it and I’m too upset about Jason to even worry about anything else right now.”

  She headed for the kitchen. Something different on the porch caught her eye. The blanket--it was all bunched up and the pillows had been moved. She walked closer to the sliding glass door and looked in astonishment.