Cicada Song

by Bradford Combs

  Chapter 19

  The fingers of dawn stretched over Anderson, but Ellis was already showered and packed. He didn’t sleep well last night, his thoughts dominated by Phil’s inclination that Office Clem hadn’t shot Jake Ramsey, but also, he couldn’t stop thinking about Sara.

  He had come to the conclusion that she would be worth pursuing. His decision, however, was entirely hypothetical. He could see himself falling in love with her, but she could never return his love, at least, not while Jake was still alive. For Ellis, Mandy was gone, allowing him the chance to move on without guilt; and, for Sara, he would have tried. But, as she had said, the timing was all wrong.

  Now, as he locked the motel door for the last time and tucked his suitcase into the trunk of his car, he decided that thoughts of Sara were fruitless. Nothing could ever come of them. He gave his motel key back to Annie and felt a little tug at his heart as he started his car. He hadn’t been in Anderson long, but he’d really grown to like it here.

  He noted the sound of construction near the school—probably something for the day’s events—but above that, he heard the cicadas singing. Their synchronized buzz had always gotten under his skin, but now it meant something different to him. It made him think of Anderson’s residents and of Sara specifically. Then he thought about Jake Ramsey. The boy had been here for such a short time and made such an impact on these people’s lives, and then he was gone. Perhaps the cicada’s song would remind him of Jake more than anyone else, despite the fact that Ellis had never known Jake. Unlike the cicadas, however, Jake Ramsey would never return.

  He drove by Percy’s and saw the man just turning on the lights. He swung by Melba’s house and already the place was ablaze. He passed Ms. Beverly’s place and the library, neither of which showed any sign of life. The woman had risen with the sun every day this week; she deserved to sleep in for a change. The only other vehicle on the road was Anderson’s lone taxi, driven by Ms. Beverly’s hopeful suitor, Riley James. He waved as Ellis passed by. And lastly, as Ellis left Anderson, he looked into the trees to his right. He wondered what would become of Phil Guthrie. There was a good person inside that drunkard, if only he could get some help.

  With Anderson trailing in the rear view mirror and his final thoughts lingering on Phil, Ellis once again recalled Phil’s last words to him. What if Office Clem didn’t shoot Jake? He knew that it wasn’t any of his business, but it involved Sara and Stan, and he felt guilty for not having shared it with them. But then, it could have been a lot to do about nothing. Why peel open an old wound if there was no proof of the statement’s validity?

  For nearly an hour, Ellis dwelt on these thoughts. They dominated his mind so fully that he eventually pulled into a rest stop with the hope of clearing his mind. He sat quietly, debating on what to do. Going to Sara or Stan would only cause them grief, and he had no physical evidence to give Arthur Harris. He should just let it go, but something inside of him refused. He looked at the small building where travelers relieved themselves and opted to go inside.

  “Good morning!” said a man from behind a desk dressed in what looked to be a park ranger uniform.

  “Hello,” Ellis answered with a smile. “I was wondering if you had public computer access.”

  The man pointed toward a small room in the corner with a single computer inside. “It’s slow but it runs. Nothing naughty, now.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Ellis sat and began typing, unsure of how to find the information he needed. It took a half hour but he eventually found it.

 

  Office Clem, who was accused and sentenced to life without parole following two accounts of murder, one account of kidnapping a minor, and the near-fatal shooting of Anderson teenager, Jacob Ramsey, has been transferred to the Tolbert Criminal Facility where he is due to serve out the remainder of his sentence…

 

  “The Tolbert Criminal Facility.”

  He found the address and jotted it down on a scrap sheet of paper.

  “If anyone knows what happened that night,” Ellis said to himself, “it would be Office Clem.”

  SARA