These Sheltering Walls: A Cane River Romance

by Hathaway, Mary Jane

  “Are you going to fight for her?”

  Gideon knew Tom wasn’t talking about Blue, or any other man. The real enemy was Gideon’s past and the way it haunted him. He stared out the window at the empty lot. “I’d walk through hell for her.”

  “And you may have to.” Tom’s voice was gentle.

  He imagined the years ahead of him filled with therapy and introspection, and he felt a little sick. “I don’t know if it’s fair to ask her to wait while I figure myself out.”

  Tom was quiet for a moment. “Nothing wrong with honesty, ever. But give her the chance to love you where you’re at. Nobody’s perfect.”

  “But being able to handle a missed phone call is―” Gideon spotted something red near the hedge at the end of the parking lot. Bright red, like the shoes Henry wore that afternoon. He struggled to unbuckled his seat belt, panic making him clumsy. He could never remember where the handle was in Tom’s car and the extra second stretched impossibly long as he scrabbled at the door.

  “What are you―?” Tom followed Gideon’s lead, jumping out of the car and rushing across the lot.

  Gideon stooped down and grabbed the red high heeled shoe. Somehow there had been the smallest bit of hope that it really wasn’t real, that his fingers would grasp at air and come back with nothing. That it would be another trick of his broken mind.

  “Don’t panic. It’s not certain―”

  “It’s Henry’s. She was wearing them today. I saw her in the bookstore.” Gideon turned in a circle, scanning the lot. He’d known something was wrong.

  Tom was already dialing his phone. “Alice? I’m so sorry to wake you. Can you check on Henry for me?” He didn’t look at Gideon while he talked. “It may be nothing. She just missed a phone call and… okay. Thanks. I’ll wait.”

  Gideon bent down and looked at the gravel. Wide scuff marks led to a spot in the hedge where branches were broken back. Fresh leaves littered the ground underneath. She’d put up a fight. She’d known.

  “Are you sure? Can you get the key? I just don’t want to raise the alarm if she’s asleep and not hearing us.” Tom was still facing away but Gideon could hear the quiet fear in his voice. “Sure, I can hold again.”

  He squeezed through the spot in the hedge, a branch catching him painfully at the sensitive skin near his throat. The alley was pitch dark. He listened hard, but the only sound was a car turning the corner. Gideon looked one direction, then the other, his pulse pounding hard in his ears. He couldn’t find her alone. He didn’t even know how long it had been since she’d been taken. Forcing his mind away from the rest of the thought, Gideon went back through the hedge.

  Tom was looking at his phone. “She’s not there. Alice went inside and checked.” His voice was dull and flat. He seemed to be in shock. Without saying more, he poked out a number and put the phone to his ear. “I need to report a possible kidnapping.”

  Gideon stared up at the sky, the rest of Tom’s conversation fading into the background. There was no reason for anyone to hurt Henry unless they knew she was connected to Gideon. And if they were the men he thought they were, Henry didn’t have a chance.

  ***

  After what seemed like hours of scratching into the wall, Henry traced the letters back with one finger. The deep indentations spelled out everything she’d heard and everything she could remember about her attackers. She’d chosen the farthest corner of the basement and hopefully when they came back, they wouldn’t see what she’d done. Of course, at the same time she could only pray that someone else would read it after… Henry shook away the thought.

  In college, she’d heard a motivational speaker talk about his near death experience and the end of the story was filled with clarity and renewed sense of purpose. Henry settled down against the wall and waited for her personal revelation. It was down to the last hours of her life. It was very unlikely she’d survive. But nothing came.

  She looked back on her twenty eight years and didn’t see anything important. No friends except Patsy. No real accomplishments. She thought of Vonda and Joe, and hoped they would find something really special in the slave quarters. Clark would take it hard. He seemed like he was that type. Bix and Ruby, too. Henry shivered, thinking of Alice and how she would feel knowing that Henry had been kidnapped right below her window. She hoped she didn’t feel any guilt.

  The darkness felt suffocating and she leaned her head back against the wall. She had always thought she’d live a long life, like her grandparents. At least as long as Lisette and Kimberly. But this was all she was going to get, and for the first time, she realized she’d spent a lot of time being angry. Sure, her life hadn’t been perfect. Lisette hadn’t been the most affectionate, but she’d always had enough.

  Henry felt tears prick her eyes. She’d spent so many years wanting everything to be different, when it was just the way it was. All of that energy, wasted.

  She’d only started to live, really. Meeting Gideon had changed her life in a way she’d hadn’t known was possible. She wiped her face, knowing she was probably spreading dirt all over her cheeks. If only they’d had more time. Those few months together felt like years, he’d given her so much, taught her so many things.

  She was making sad little choking sounds now as she cried but she didn’t care. She’d been so worried about getting hurt that she’d been in a sort of dance, wanting to get close but jumping away. And Gideon had simply waited for her. He’d shared his heart, his secrets, his stories, his work. He’d cared about her fears, fixing the door when she was sure she’d get trapped inside, even showing her―

  Henry bolted upright and scrambled to her feet. The keys were still in her hand. She made her way to the door, heart pounding in her chest. Sweeping her hands along the frame, she prayed out loud, hoping against hope, until she hit the large brass hinges. Her hands shook as she began to force a key under one of the pins, wiggling it until there was a gap, then shoving upward until she could grasp it with one hand. Her arms ached as she worked. Pain flashed through her hand as she tore a thumbnail and warm blood trickled down her arm. She blinked back tears and kept working.

  Gideon had joked about her special skill set. But he had one, too, and what he’d taught her just might save her life.

  ***

  The officer fixed Gideon with a stare as Tom explained why they had called for help. Gideon tried his best to look docile. He was no threat. He simply needed them to find Henry.

  “What happened to your hands?” The officer hadn’t shut off his lights and the strobe effect was making Gideon feel sick and off-kilter.

  Alice stood there, arms wrapped around her waist, face pale with fear. She glanced at Gideon’s hands for the first time.

  “I hurt them. At home.”

  “And that scratch on your neck?” He pointed with his pen and Gideon reached up, feeling a long, bloody mark.

  “I went through the bushes, trying to see if I could hear her. Or find her.” Glancing down, he saw several leaves stuck to his shirt and he brushed them off.

  “Officer, our friend Henry is in danger.” Tom stepped between them, trying to recapture the man’s attention.

  “How did you know?” He didn’t take his gaze off Gideon.

  “She was supposed to call when she got off work. She didn’t. I got worried so I called Tom.”

  “They called me to check her apartment. She’s not there, either,” Alice said but the man didn’t even look in her direction.

  “So, you called your friend?” He turned to Tom. “He called you to say his girlfriend didn’t call? And then you went to his house and brought him here?” He turned back to Gideon. “You don’t drive?”

  Another police vehicle pulled into the lot, lights flashing. Gideon felt cold sweat drip down the back of his neck. A week ago, he’d been resigned to another jail term. Now he would do anything in his power to keep from being the focus of their investigation.

  “Please, you have to believe me. She’s here, somewhere.”

&
nbsp; “Stay where you are,” he responded. He turned to talk to the new arrivals and Gideon heard Tom’s voice as if from a distance.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll find her.”

  Gideon shook his head. He’d brought all of this into Henry’s life. She didn’t deserve to suffer any of this, but now she was because Gideon had been selfish. He should have protected her.

  “Mr. Becket, if you could step over here.” Another officer had arrived and he was motioning Gideon toward one of the police cars.

  “You don’t need to question him,” Alice protested. “He didn’t do anything.”

  “Sir, you don’t understand. Henry Byrne has been kidnapped. Or something has happened to her.” Gideon heard the panic in his voice and fought to stay calm. His hands were shaking and he clenched his fists, feeling the ache of the scrapes on his knuckles.

  Tom put a hand on the officer’s shoulder. “Listen, I know you want to cover all the bases. But I was with him―”

  “Please step back.” His eyes had narrowed and he put his hand somewhere at his belt.

  “I’ll show you where they pulled her through the hedge.” Gideon started toward the end of the lot.

  “Stay where you are,” his said, voice raised now. The other two walked forward, the same offensive stance mirrored in their movements.

  “Y’all aren’t hearing him,” Tom yelled and pointed toward the hedge. “We found one of her shoes. Right there. We called you for―”

  “Just be calm. We’re trying to get all the information.”

  “She might be in real trouble. You have to listen to us.” Alice sounded like she might cry.

  A radio crackled and one officer turned to speak into it. Gideon knew what came next. They would advance as a team, take him in for questioning, nobody would be looking for Henry at all. It was so bright in the parking lot that he didn’t need a flashlight now. Maybe he didn’t need one in the alley, either. He moved to the hedge, and felt someone grab his arms.

  There was a lot of shouting and Gideon fought hard, but there were too many of them and after several minutes he landed face down in the dirt, hard. Someone kneed him between the shoulder blades and jerked one arm back. Gravel pierced his cheek and the cold metal of a pair of cuffs felt like an electric shock against his wrist.

  “Stop struggling,” someone yelled in his ear and Gideon tried to shake his head. He wasn’t struggling. Or maybe he was. He couldn’t tell. Everything was noise and sound and Henry was in trouble. They weren’t going to help her.

  His other arm jerked backward and the rest of the cuffs were locked in place. Someone was still yelling and he wasn’t sure but it sounded like Tom. He inhaled dirt and started to cough. At the edge of the lot he could see a crowd gathering, their faces changing color from red to blue in the patrol car lights. He wished there was someone, anyone, who would listen to him. Henry needed him. His Henry. The only woman he’d ever―

  And there she was, like a dream. Or a nightmare. She came back through the hedge the same way she must have been dragged into it. Her hair was full of tangles and dirt smears marked her face, as if she’d been crying and wiped her cheeks with dirty hands. Her clothes were ruined and she wasn’t wearing shoes. One arm looked covered in blood. Gideon had never been so happy to see anyone in his life.

  “There. Just relax,” a gruff voice said above his head. It was probably the owner of the knee still buried in his back. “We’re just gonna ask you some questions but first I gotta say you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right―”

  Alice rushed forward and hugged Henry hard. Tom started to follow, then looked back at Gideon.

  “Go,” he tried to say through the mouthful of dirt. Tom seemed to understand and ran to Henry, looking her over for injuries. The other officers stepped closer, finally grasping that this was the woman who was missing.

  “Don’t let him up,” someone said above him.

  “Nope,” the kneeler agreed. “Looks like your lady friend wasn’t as missing as you’d hoped. Maybe you were a little sloppy this time, huh?”

  All the rage that had been coursing through him was gone and Gideon didn’t bother to answer. Henry was here. She was okay. Nothing else mattered.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  “With a secret like that, at some point the secret itself becomes irrelevant.

  The fact that you kept it does not.”

  ― Sara Gruen

  Henry tried to give as much information as she could but either the officers were asking her the same questions, or she was repeating herself. After a few minutes, someone gave her a phone to call Kimberly. Her mother’s sobs echoed in her ears, cries of relief and gratitude. She promised she’d see her tomorrow, and that everything was fine. Henry couldn’t tell whether she was fine, but she knew she was alive and that was enough.

  An officer helped Gideon up off the ground and removed the cuffs. She knew Alice and Tom were there, and a kind woman who offered her a bottle of water, but through all the chaos, she only had eyes for Gideon. She walked into his arms without saying a word. He kissed her hair, her face and murmured things she didn’t quite hear. She had another chance to tell him how she really felt. It was as if her life were starting over.

  “I didn’t expect to see you again,” she said into his shirt.

  “I’m here.” His voice was rough. “How― what happened?”

  “I did what you taught me.” She looked up. “The pins. I took out the pins.”

  An officer was still standing near. “Miss, could you lead us back to where you were being held?”

  She nodded, hating to leave Gideon’s arms. “It’s right on the corner, the place that’s up for sale. Yellow three story house.”

  “I know that place. We’ve had squatters in there before.” The officer made a note and turned away.

  “Let me go upstairs and get some shoes for you,” he said, looking down at her bare feet.

  “I’ll go,” Alice said and rushed away.

  “Here,” Tom said and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. “I keep this in the trunk for emergencies. I shook it to make sure there weren’t any spiders. Just in case.”

  Henry managed a smile. Tom looked as shocked as she was and probably needed a blanket of his own. “How did you two know?”

  “You didn’t call,” Gideon said.

  She felt something under her fingers and looked at his hands, seeing the scrapes for the first time. “What did they do to you?”

  “You said you’d call.” He wasn’t making any sense.

  “We came to check on you and he saw your shoe in the bushes,” Tom offered.

  “Did they follow you back from Oakland?”

  Henry shook her head. “No, it was just an accident, I think. I heard them when I got out of the car.”

  “Accident?”

  “They didn’t know I was there. But I heard them talking about Barney Sandoz. Well, not exactly his name, but I knew what they meant, and they mentioned you, so I snuck up on them and ―”

  Gideon put a hand to his eyes. “You what?”

  “I crept up to the hedge, trying to hear what they were saying.” Now, in the flashing lights of the patrol cars, she could see how stupid she’d been. “I was trying to get information. I knew that if I could hear who killed Barney, it would prove your innocence.”

  The look on his face chilled her to the bone and she clutched the blanket tighter.

  “You risked your life for that?”

  She’d risked her life for him. “They couldn’t see me. I was right behind the―”

  “But they did see you, obviously.” His face was tight with anger. He stepped back from her. “You asked me to take care of myself and I agreed. You said when I went into the fire to get those boxes, that it was like I carried your heart. How do you think I feel? You could have gotten yourself killed.”

  Tom put a hand on his arm. “Everyone’s had a really hard evening
. Let’s not talk about this right now.”

  Henry felt her eyes burn with tears and part of her was surprised she had any left to cry. She had gone through every emotion possible in only a few hours and now, she felt Gideon’s utter disappointment in her. He was right. She’d asked him to not act like a hero, then she’d gone and tried to be one herself.

  “Here you go,” Alice said, coming up beside her. “I grabbed the tennis shoes near the door, I hope that’s okay.”

  She nodded and tried to slip her foot into one, but lost her balance and fell against Alice. “Sorry. I’m just…”

  “Miss, maybe you should come and sit down.” An ambulance had arrived sometimes while they were talking and a young woman in a blue uniform gently took her hand. “We’ll check out that cut on your hand.”

  “It’s not a cut.” She held up her hand and her right thumbnail was mostly missing. “But I guess I should get a band aid.”

  “I’ll help you,” Alice said, and bending down, she got Henry’s feet into her shoes and then propelled her toward the ambulance.

  She looked back, hoping to see Gideon following but he was still facing the hedge. Tom seemed to be talking to him.

  The ambulance technician chattered pleasantly while she swabbed Henry’s arm with disinfectant and Henry was glad of the distraction. After a few minutes she asked, “Are you almost done? I forgot there was something I needed to ask my friend.”

  “Sure am.” She offered Henry several packets of gauze and gave her directions on keeping the wound clean, then helped her down from the ambulance.

  Alice looked pale and there were dark rings around her eyes. “I can’t believe this happened. I didn’t hear a thing. I sleep so deeply now.”

  Henry nodded. Alice hadn’t heard anything because Henry had been careful not to wake her. “You don’t have to stay. I think we’re almost done. I’m going to get a hot shower and go straight to bed.”

  Her eyes widened. “Alone? You can’t stay alone. You need to stay with me tonight. The guest room is made up and―”

  “I’m okay. And I’ll sleep better in my own bed.”