by Aiken, Ginny
Rand’s detached expression left her wanting to reach out and shake him. Instead, she took a deep breath. “I’m going to talk to him, though. If for no other reason than that he has watched my kids and I have that connection with him. I want answers—”
“We’ve already talked to him.”
So potential action did get a response. She’d threaten until she was blue in the face, if in the end they got somewhere. “I’m not official. Kids tend to back away from you guys.”
He sighed. “And you would know.”
She tipped up her chin. “Unfortunately.”
“I hope you’re not planning to go off on your own.”
“I don’t think you’ll let me get away with it, will you?”
Rand shook his head. “If Hillary didn’t know about Marly’s drug use, it could have been something new. Maybe as new as her relationship with Phil. But we still don’t know who sold the soccer players the drugs, much less Marly. We’re on it, we’re investigating.”
Cate planted her fists on her hips. “I can help, you know. I can talk to Phil.”
Rand studied her for a moment. “I’ll be there with you. Marly was our witness. And we just learned the melted ID you found at the theater belonged to someone from the school—a kid, a teacher, a member of the staff.” He took a deep breath. “And we don’t know whether her death was an accident or something far worse. It may not be safe for you to get involved, any more than you already are.”
On the way home, Lindsay and the twins started to belt out songs they’d sung in their respective groups. As they turned the corner to the Caldwell home, the trio hit their favorite chorus. They begged Cate to join in. And while she’d rather have spared them, she had to tell them about Marly. That put an end to the songs.
A familiar little yellow car blocked the driveway. Cate pulled onto the gravel on the side of the paved drive, parked, then rolled down her window.
“Zoe Ramona Donovan! What are you doing here at this hour of the night?”
The tall redhead unfurled her lean frame from its cramped spot behind the wheel of the subcompact. “I lead a boooooring life, sister. I have nowhere else to go—”
“That’s your choice, Zoe. You use bug spray to keep the guys away.”
“Yeah, well. You know I’m waiting for the right one to come around.” She reached into the backseat and pulled out a tote bag. “I come bearing gifts—one gift, to be precise.”
The kids opened the van doors and piled out.
“Whatcha got?”
“Who’s it for?”
“Can I see, Miss Zoe?”
Cate clicked the van doors shut. With a glare at her friend, she pointed her niece and nephews toward the front door. “It better not be alive, covered in fur, feathers, scales or slime. Or you’re roadkill.” She lowered her voice. “You know I can’t handle a pet right now. And tonight’s the worst possible night for one of your stunts. We…we had a death at youth group.”
Zoe expressed her horror as Cate described the events of the evening. Before she knew it, she’d poured out everything: the attacks, the car that followed her home, the man at the window and even the album Sam had kept.
“I hope you understand,” she said in the end. “I can’t handle anything more.”
Zoe tugged on her ponytail, a wry look on her face. “I hope you’ll still love me after I show you my surprise. Plus remember, God’s on your side, kiddo. Things might be horrible right now, but He’s still on His throne.”
“I know He is.” Cate gave her friend a crooked grin—the best she could come up with. “Just show me what you brought my wild beasts. And it’ll cost you. You’re going to have to babysit my crew tomorrow, when the organizers for Tuckerpalooza come over for burgers and dogs.”
“Oh, no!” Zoe winked at Lindsay who stood on the front porch straining to hear the adult conversation. “Dire consequences, indeed.” She turned to the twins. “Psst! Hot fudge sundaes and banana splits for dinner!”
Cate shook her head and smiled. “So what did you bring them this time?”
Once inside the Caldwell living room, Zoe placed her tote bag on the coffee table in front of the sofa. The bag had mesh windows of the breathing-vent kind.
Cate groaned again.
Zoe unzipped the tote and out stumbled a tiny, marmalade-striped tabby kitten, its green eyes huge, triangle ears perked upright, its whiskers quivering. It blinked and sat, curled its tail around itself, then stared at Cate.
“Meeeow!”
Her wall of objections crumbled in the face of the perfect distraction.
The kids needed something positive after all the horrible stuff that had happened. While nothing could make up for Marly’s loss, a kitten full of life and growing daily, bore the promise of hope.
“Awww…” Lindsay crooned.
“Is he gonna bring us dead rats?” Tommy asked.
Robby raced to the cat and picked it up. Yes, this was just what they needed.
NINE
“Don’t worry about the firewood, Catey,” her father insisted on the phone the next day. “I set it all up already. I’ve got someone coming to split it for you. Then the twins can help stack it for winter on the back porch.”
“Dad! You didn’t have to worry about firewood. You’re supposed to be resting and recovering. I can take care of all that.”
“You want me to just sit here and let my brain rot while I grow new skin?”
“No. I want you to get better.”
“I’m doing that, too. But you can’t make a guy watch TV all day. I tell you, it’ll drive you nuts, with so many talk shows and people acting crazy.”
Cate couldn’t disagree, so she’d let it go.
Hours later, after she picked up the kids at school and hurried home, she sat to wait for the delivery of the felled tree her father had volunteered to take to help a buddy clear his property after a violent storm. And to keep the family warm once temperatures plunged.
When the doorbell rang, the kids pelted downstairs. The boys couldn’t wait to try their hand at splitting logs—no matter how many times she told them they’d be getting near an ax only in their dreams. Lindsay held Crush—as in Orange Crush—in her arms, the kitty’s happiness audible in his purring.
Cate hurried to the door. “Please put Crush back in his carrier. We’re all going to be running in and out and I don’t want him to slip away. He’s little and can get lost or hurt if we aren’t careful.”
She opened the door. Rand stood on the other side. She couldn’t help the smile that curved her lips.
“You’re the one who lost the tree on your property?”
“No, I moved into a condo when I came back to town. Your dad just asked me to help, because he couldn’t do it himself. I’m going to chop it down to size and get the boys to stack it for you.”
“Don’t expect me to just sip tea and nibble crumpets while you’re at it. I want to do my part. Let’s go stack wood.”
Armed with a chainsaw, ax, sledgehammer and a wedge, Rand had the rough-cut wood dumped out of the truck onto the driveway. Before long, the saw hummed, its song punctuated in steady syncopation by the crack of the ax against the wood or the sledgehammer against the wedge.
The boys took the cut pieces from Rand, then raced each other to the back porch where the Caldwells had always stacked firewood for use in the winter. Cate took up a rake and started in on the thick layer of dead leaves, something she hadn’t done since the fire. Lindsay helped her with her own small rake, sticking close by Cate’s side.
The normalcy of their activity began to lull her into a state of contentment. This man, so at ease with himself and the kids, appealed to her as none other ever had before. He laughed, he answered the kids’ questions, yet he never stopped working the whole time. When it came to correcting the kids or making any kind of decision, however, he made clear she was in charge.
Oh, yeah. She could really, really like this Rand. Admire him, relate to him…
Maybe even get answers from him.
Cate bided her time. She wanted nothing more than to ask about the investigation. What had he learned? Had the melted ID yielded any more information? Had his own investigation turned up anything to help the police nail whoever had put her dad and Wilma in the ICU?
But she couldn’t just jump into the conversational mix between him and the twins—she wanted to spare her niece and nephews as much fear as possible. Talk of arson and arsonists wasn’t particularly peaceful, and a discussion of the town’s drug epidemic wouldn’t be good for their peace of mind.
The boys kept Rand entertained, discussing soccer, school and their favorite video game. Lindsay slipped inside to play with Crush.
When Cate had built a tall pile of leaves for the town’s services to pick up for disposal, she put away the rake and went to help Rand and the twins. From about a ten-foot distance, she paused to watch him, admiring the way his arms lifted the ax, then swung it back down in a smooth, powerful arc, his movements graceful in a rhythm all their own.
The man was impressive.
“Can I give it a try?” she asked.
“Why would you want to?” he grinned. “I’m right here.”
“You won’t always be available to chop our wood. I should know how to take care of us.”
Rand crossed his hands on the wooden ax handle, leaned back and through narrowed eyes, took Cate’s measure—again. This time though, a certain spark, a responding flicker, made Cate’s heart beat faster.
Oh, my.
A flush warmed Cate’s cheeks, but also served to warm her. She couldn’t let him rattle her.
What had they been talking about? Oh, right. Chopping wood. But when Cate went to press her point, he stopped her. “Tell you what. If you show me you can swing a sledgehammer safely, I’ll let you give the ax a try. At least the hammer won’t chop off your foot.”
“Your confidence in my ability overwhelms me,” she said.
“You might be—” he took another look, a half-smile tipping up the corner of his mouth “—oh, about five foot seven, but you weigh next to nothing. It takes a certain bulk to handle one of these things. No reflection on you, of course.”
Cate stuck out her chin. “I still want to give it a try.”
His eyes twinkled. “Go for the hammer first.”
“You go, Aunt Catey!” Robby cheered as he ran toward the house. “But wait until I get back from the bathroom.”
Tommy frowned. “You sure you want to try, Aunt Cate? We don’t want you in the hospital with Gramps.”
He did have a point. She had to be careful. “Tell you what. I’ll be really careful.”
The back door slammed shut as Robby went inside, then immediately burst open again. Lindsay ran out, her face crumpled, a wail on her lips.
“Robby let Crush out! Someone get him, please!”
An orange blur dashed across the yard and into the shrubs between the Caldwell home and Alec’s place. Tommy ran to the bushes and crawled under the greenery. Lindsay stood rooted to the back porch and stared, wringing her hands.
Cate headed for the driveway. “Okay, okay, okay. Wait right here while I go get Crush.”
She trotted to the front, unlatched the gate on Alec’s fence and hurried to the backyard. Behind her, Tommy lobbied Rand for permission to go after the kitten, too.
To her surprise, he backed her up. “Your aunt told you to stay here. How about if we get back to the wood?”
Alec’s backyard was as neat as the front—not surprising, since he’d struck her from the start as a neat freak.
In the middle of the expanse of still-green lawn, Cate tried to settle on her best option. The faintest mewl from inside Alec’s garage caught her attention. The old wooden door hung warped with a gap between its bottom edge and the concrete drive. Fortunately for Cate, it swung rather than rose up to open—no automatic garage gizmo to hinder her rescue efforts. She pulled on the creaky door and then once she had it ajar, waited while her eyes adjusted to the dark.
Seconds later, she saw the orderly garage, walls covered with floor-to-ceiling shelves. Vast quantities of stuff made the wooden boards sag under the weight, the full lower racks a perfect hiding place for a runaway kitten.
“C’mere, Crush. Let’s get you home before you find a mouse trap or something.”
The meow came again and Cate followed the sound to the rear wall. There, on a shelf stacked three deep with a dozen cans of drain-clearing lye, she found the cat huddled in a quivering heap. It seemed Crush’s flight had scared him almost as much as he’d frightened Lindsay.
“Aw, sweet baby. Let’s go home.” As she stood up, she cracked her head against the next shelf up. One of a dozen gallons of antifreeze tumbled to the ground.
“Ouch!” Cate rubbed her head with one hand, while she clutched Crush to her chest with the other.
“What’s up, Cate?” Alec asked, startling her. “You need something from my garage?”
Still checking her sore scalp, Cate held out the tiny bit of orange fur. “Alec Hollinger, meet the newest member of the Caldwell family. Crush ran away when one of the twins went inside to use the bathroom. I came after him before he could get into any kind of trouble here in your handyman’s dream warehouse. Are you preparing for a siege or what?”
He barked a laugh. “I just like a bargain when I can get one. And it looks like you got your little buddy just in time. He’s perfectly fine and a fine feline specimen at that.” He rubbed between the kitten’s perky ears as they left the garage. “I’m glad. But Crush’s escapade tells me I’d better do something about that old door. I’ve been putting it off since I moved in. If he can slip in that way, then other critters can, too, and I have stuff that’s not too healthy for them.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe if the rats and squirrels get a whiff of your stuff, it’ll keep them away.”
Alec locked the garage door, then laughed at himself. “As if locking it does any good. Neither Crush nor the rats have to open the door to get in.”
“No, but I’m glad I could. Otherwise, who knows if the poor little guy would have found his way back out.”
“Well, there you go. It all worked out fine in the end.”
“Tell that to the lump on my head.” Alec laughed again. “See you later for the cookout,” she added.
“Cookout?” Before she could remind him, he went on. “Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about that. Do you need any help? Want me to bring something?”
“Yeah. Bring whatever you signed up to bring, like everyone else. It’s a potluck, Alec!” She shook her head. “Never mind. I think I have it all under control. Just bring your appetite.”
When the twins and Rand had finished stacking the lumber on the back porch, Zoe drove up to collect the kids. While it took them a few minutes to load all their gear, the kitten and his litter box and all kinds of odds and ends into her friend’s zippy little car, before long, Cate felt a brief measure of relief.
Then she turned to Rand as they headed into the kitchen. “I refuse to accept ‘nothing’ as an answer this time. Bring me up to date. What have you learned about the fire so far?”
“I really don’t have anything more to tell you about the fire. We’re waiting for lab results on additional tests they’ve run.”
“But…?”
He sighed. “Taken up mind-reading lately?”
“No. Just years of watching Dad as he worked fires. I can tell when you guys have something else itching at your minds.”
He sighed. “It’s about the soccer players. The third boy said David didn’t buy the drugs off the Internet.”
Cate’s thoughts spun in a dozen directions. “Then that means someone’s dealing at the school. Did any of them say who it was?”
Rand shook his head. “They refused to talk. Which tells me they’re scared. I don’t think it’s another kid.”
A sick feeling swam into Cate’s gut. She looked at the platter of burgers she held. She didn’t know if she�
��d be able to cook them without getting sick.
“This is bad, really bad.”
“Yeah, it’s bad.”
“Related to the meth?”
“I don’t know. But I wouldn’t be surprised. Dealers aren’t too picky about how they make their dough. And pills are easy to come by.”
“Could it have been Sam? Before he died, I mean.”
“Could be, but even though we found a backpack, some clothes and your album, we found no money at all. Makes me doubt he had the funds to set himself back up in business.”
“That means someone supplied him with the ingredients to cook up the drug.”
“Either that or Sam was little more than an errand boy for the real dealer. We checked with the jail. He’d been out for only two weeks. It seems he came straight to Loganton the minute he got out.”
“He didn’t come to me, Rand. I hadn’t seen him.”
The look he gave her made her feel like they’d gone back to square one.
She didn’t let him speak. “What good would it do me to lie? I don’t have the money to fund a meth lab nor do I have the kind of profit a lab would turn. You can check that out easy enough. Subpoena my bank records, if you insist on suspecting me.”
He arched a brow. “I might just do that, Cate.”
She made herself take measured steps as she went out to the back porch and slapped eight burgers on the hot grill.
Seconds later, she heard Rand come out on to the porch, but she didn’t turn. Why did this man throw her so off balance? Cate had felt the same way back in high school. Back then, she’d chalked up her awareness to resentment. Her father had considered Rand almost perfect, while Cate never quite hit the mark.
Cate felt Rand’s warm hands lightly grasp her shoulders, and then his low voice rumbled in her ears, interrupting her thoughts.
“Look, Cate. I know it’s tough to deal with, but I do have a job to do. I’m accountable to Loganton. It’s my responsibility to suspect everyone.” He sighed. “But don’t worry. You have nothing to fear from me. I believe you, Cate.”