“I looked at the report you filed.” Jake’s voice came quietly as Adam drove the short distance to Ginny’s apartment. He parked on the south side of the building, so that he and Jake could look up and see her apartment windows. The place was dark, of course. It was nearly one in the morning.
Adam turned to look at his brother. The anger he saw burning in Jake’s eyes matched the fury that had been in his heart as he’d taken those damning photographs that recorded the evidence of the assault Ginny had suffered at the hands of Deke Walters.
“I’d resisted all this time, because I thought to let you carry that on your own. Have you noticed? You’re so very gentle with her, so almost…tentative. Because of your first interactions with her, I’m thinking. I’m not that gentle. I’m just me, and I figured together we balanced each other out, and we could keep her off balance without spooking her.”
“Yeah, I noticed. I can’t help it. I didn’t believe at first that we could ever truly reach her.”
“I know.”
They both sat silently for a moment.
“I hope she’s sleeping well,” Jake said. “She does trust us. I saw it in her eyes.”
“The entire town has our backs,” Adam said. “I figured we’d head out, first thing, and interview this friend of Walters. His name is Jerry Stone, known to his friends and associates as ‘Moose.’”
“Take us a good three hours to get to Abilene,” Jake said.
“That’s why I want to leave first thing in the morning. I’ll have to call Matt and let him know. He’s scheduled to relieve Jasper, anyway.”
“I figured whatever you had in mind you’d want to do first thing. I’m coming with you, by the way.”
Adam met his brother’s gaze. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“And I even promise you that if we happen to find Walters there, I won’t beat him to bloody death. Just close to it.”
Adam grinned. “Hell, don’t promise that. As it is, I can’t kill the bastard. I’m an officer of the law and an officer of the courts.”
“I’m an officer of the courts, too. I’ll just say I was doing my Christian duty. The bible does say, ‘thou shalt not kill,’ but it doesn’t say anything about maiming.”
Adam laughed. It felt good knowing that his brother would be with him. They often thought as one, and together, he’d bet they’d make some headway.
“Are we going to tell her what we’re about, in the morning?”
Adam followed Jake’s line of vision, taking one last look at Ginny’s apartment. He hoped she was sound asleep, too. He didn’t doubt that learning of Walters’s escape had unsettled her. Likely, she’d only just gotten to sleep, despite the fact they’d taken her home before ten.
But Ginny Rose had to know that, being in Lusty, being of Lusty, meant she had a lot of folks keeping an eye out on her behalf.
“No.” Adam started the car, and then headed toward home. “No, we’ll probably be gone before she awakens, anyway. Plus, I don’t want to worry her. In fact, the less we say about the whole situation, the better. Let her see us every day, and let her see life goes on as normal. She’s a smart woman. She’ll understand we’re doing everything we can to ensure that Walters is apprehended, and that she’s safe.”
“Damn straight,” Jake exhaled and shot him a grin. “Hell, in all likelihood, that bastard will be in custody again in a day, two at most. I read the transcripts of both interviews the Rangers had with him. He didn’t strike me as being very bright, at all. In fact, he’s nothing more than a bully—a blowhard. All hat and no cattle, as Grandmother Miranda used to say.”
Adam tended to agree with that assessment. But he knew, too, that sometimes the criminally stupid could become the inheritors of pure dumb luck. He’d do what he could to strengthen the lines of defense around their woman. He’d already gotten the nod from his family. He knew that while he and Jake were in Abilene tomorrow, Ginny would be protected. Better to get this out-of-town investigation done straightaway. He didn’t think Walters would be able to make it to Lusty quite this soon.
He looked over at his brother.
“We’ll get it done,” Jake said.
Adam nodded. And he knew neither of them would truly rest until Walters was in custody again.
Chapter 2
“Why can’t Adam and Jake go with us, Mom?”
Ginny looked up from the suitcase she was packing for Benny to encounter his sullen, thumb-in-mouth stance.
Ginny hadn’t understood until just that moment how close her son had become with Adam and Jake Kendall. She bit down her first, knee-jerk response that the brothers Kendall weren’t family.
That response, though technically true, might belittle Benny’s feelings. That, she would never, ever do. She reached for a tone of calm reason. “Well, for one thing, they can’t get away right now.”
“So then why do we have to leave now? Can’t we wait until they can get away?”
“No, sweetheart, we can’t. My Aunt Margaret has lots of room for us right now, because the tourist season won’t start for another month or so.”
“We’re going to be gone that long? What about school?”
Ginny wondered at the tenacity, and the logic, of her son. Only in first grade, but already he could reason and wrangle with the best of them.
She sat on his bed and held out her arms to him. He came to her at once, and she lifted him onto her lap. He was growing up so fast, that before long she likely wouldn’t be able to cuddle him as easily as this. “No, we won’t be gone that long,” she said. At least, she prayed not. Surely to God Deke would be in custody again in a few days?
She turned her attention back to her son. “We’ll get your teacher to send me your homework online. Ms. Kendall came by this morning and let me have use of her laptop.” Adam and Jake’s mother also offered her a whole lot of money, “just in case.” Ginny had politely, but firmly, refused the cash. She had more than several hundred dollars of her own put by—her rainy-day fund. Last night the torrential downpour had begun. The flight hadn’t cost that much, and her aunt had been thrilled she was coming and was giving her one of the rooms that, in season, guests would pay good money for.
Because Samantha Kendall had been so kind and wanting to help, she’d felt she had to take the cell phone she then had also offered. Of course, she’d only use it in case of emergency. But that good woman had been so relieved to have been of help, before she knew it, Ginny had promised to keep the phone charged, and on, at all times.
It was a small enough promise to make in return for such big-hearted kindness.
Everyone had been more understanding than she’d imagined they would be. Kelsey had even told her not to worry one second about her job. Of course she had to go, and of course that job would be waiting for her when she came home.
Only Benny, it seemed, was giving her a hard time about the decision she’d made.
“I know this is sudden,” Ginny said. “But I promise you, it’s only for a little while. We have a short drive and then the long flight to Wildwood, New Jersey. I’m going to need you to be your usually cheery self, Benny Rose. We’ll go meet my mama’s baby sister, and settle in for a week, two at most. Wouldn’t you like to see the Atlantic Ocean? Why, my Aunt Margaret says her motor inn is right on the beach and that the sand comes right on up to the back of the building.”
“Can we swim in the ocean?”
Benny had perked up at the prospect, and Ginny was sorely tempted to let him think he could indeed go swimming.
But she’d always been as honest as she could with him, and so she said, “No, the ocean will still be a bit too chilly to swim in. But, we can play in the sand and build sand castles together.”
“You’ll build some with me?”
“Oh, you bet I will. Now, will you help me get us packed and on the road? Our flight leaves in four hours.”
“Okay. How come you never met your own aunt before?”
“Well now, she’s your a
unt too. Your great-aunt, as a matter of fact.”
“How do we know she’s great if’n we haven’t even met her yet?”
Ginny laughed and hugged Benny. Then she put him down and got back to her packing.
“Great-aunt just means that she’s the aunt of one of your parents,” Ginny said. “Now, as to how it is we never met her, I will tell you that’s likely more my fault than hers.”
“Because she lives in New Jersey?”
“That’s part of it. But you see, when I was young—not quite as young as you—my own mama passed on, and so I was put into a foster home.”
“Is that where people take in kids to give them a good home when they don’t even know them?”
Not for the world would Ginny be that honest with her son. She could see no harm in letting him believe that those who took in orphaned children did so out of the kindness of their hearts.
Surely some of them had to.
“That’s right. Anyway, I didn’t know that my momma had any family, on account of her own mother refused to see her after she ran away and married my daddy. I don’t think momma even knew she had a baby sister, although she must have done as there were only fifteen years between them. Anyway, when Grandmother Morrison passed on is when Aunt Margaret learned about me and you for the first time. She somehow found out we lived in Waco, and so she sent me a letter. And we’ve kind of written back and forth, ever since.”
“And now we’re going to visit her and find out if she’s great or not.”
Ginny laughed, then hugged Benny close. “That’s right.”
It didn’t take her long to finish packing Benny’s bag. Her own took even less time. She brought both cases into the living room. A knock sounded at the door. She looked out the peephole, then smiled and opened the door.
“I had to come and give my honorary grandson a hug good-bye.” Bernice Benedict gave her a hug first, then moved into the room.
“Plus, we’re here to drive you to the airport,” Grandma Kate said. She opened her arms, and Ginny went to her, absorbing the fierceness and the kindness of the embrace.
“Oh, I can’t ask you to drive us all the way to DFW.”
“You’re not asking, sweetheart, we’re offering.” Bernice stood with her arm around Benny.
Ginny’s heart filled just thinking of all the honorary aunts, uncles, and grandparents her son now could claim.
“Besides, this will save having to spend money keeping your car parked there.” Grandma Kate gave Ginny a level look. “And I want no arguments from you, young lady, when I tell you there’ll be a rental car waiting for you at Atlantic City International Airport when you arrive.”
Ginny opened her mouth, closed it, but couldn’t really let it be. “Grandma Kate, it’s not more than fifty miles from the airport to my aunt’s place. I was going to take a bus.”
“Well, now you can drive yourself there, instead. I’m sure you’d rather have the option of a car being at your disposal, just in case.”
Ginny hadn’t even thought of that, didn’t in truth think Deke would be able to trace her to Wildwood Crest, New Jersey. But what Grandma Kate inferred was right. If something happened, she would rather have a car at her disposal.
“I’ll pay you back when I get home.”
Kate Benedict gave her a wide smile. “When you come home, we’ll negotiate.”
Ginny knew enough of the diminutive matriarch to know that was the best deal she was going to get. Conscious that her son was taking in the entire scene, she folded her arms in front of her, her hands joined and hanging down below her waist. She didn’t want to set a bad example for Benny. In the last few months she’d learned that sometimes, a person needed to accept help.
“Thank you, Grandma Kate. That was very kind of you.”
“You’re welcome, dear. Now, let’s get this show on the road!”
Ginny should have been surprised that it was actually Samantha Kendall who was doing the driving to the airport, but somehow, she wasn’t. In no time, Kate, Bernice, and Benny were secure in the back seat—Benny in a special child seat that she knew Samantha had installed specifically for him. She sat in front with the mother of the two men she cared for more than any men she’d ever met.
“Have you ever been to New Jersey?” Samantha asked.
“No, ma’am. Truth to tell, I’ve never been out of Texas before. But my aunt and I have been exchanging letters since before Benny was born. I reckon this visit is long past due. And she sounded excited when I called her first thing.”
Ginny had thought that Samantha would simply pull up to the curb and let her and Benny out, but of course, she really should have known better.
Samantha parked her Cadillac STS Coupe in the short-term parking area, and all three women accompanied her and Benny into the airport.
The place was enormous, all shiny and sleek and full of people. Ginny gave thanks she was with seasoned travelers. The women kept up a commentary that soon had her grounded well enough in these strange new surroundings. They stayed with her while she checked in and got her boarding passes—she shot a glance at all three when the airline attendant told her that by the luck of some last-minute cancellations she and Benny had been upgraded to first class. But of course, neither Benedict nor Kendall said a word, or even looked as if they had anything to hide.
Ginny hoped she would one day grow up to be just like them.
She appreciated their care and concern more than she had words to express. They walked with her to the furthest point possible, and then each hugged her in turn.
She looked at Samantha, unsurprised to see the sheen of tears in her eyes, and unable to hold back her own.
“Boy, howdy, Adam and Jake are gonna be madder than a couple of hornets, aren’t they? Tell them….tell them…” What would she have Samantha tell her sons? She didn’t even really know how she felt about them, or where she stood with them. She wasn’t even sure why she was leaving without speaking to either one of them first.
“Sweetheart, you leave my sons to me. And don’t you fret. You just go and have a nice little vacation with Benny. We’ll see you when you come home.”
“Yes, ma’am. I will see you when I come home.”
Ginny felt her heart well with gratitude for these women of strength who understood she wasn’t running away. She was simply doing what she had to do to keep her son safe, and to give herself some breathing room so she could get her emotions under control. Stepping away and allowing herself time to fully assess everything that had happened in the last more than half a year really was a gift she was giving herself as much as it was her duty. Or so I am trying to convince myself.
The PA system came to life, and pre-boarding was announced for her flight. A flurry of hugs and kisses and beaming smiles from the three women who’d come to be family to her bolstered her mood and firmed her resolve. She took Benny’s hand, waved good-bye, and led him toward the security area.
She hoped Benny didn’t notice her tears. She didn’t want to explain to him that the confidence with which she’d hatched this plan in the wee hours of the morning had begun to ebb with the light of day. He wouldn’t understand, and she wasn’t sure that she did, either.
Of course, Benny had a good excuse for being confused. He was only little.
Ginny didn’t have any excuses. She turned and saw Samantha, Bernice, and Kate standing where she’d left them. She returned their waves, and then smiled so they wouldn’t guess she was having second thoughts. The support of those women meant the world to her, and had given her the final dose of courage she’d needed to do what, for her, had been her only viable option. She took more courage from them now. If this wasn’t right, they’d have said so.
No, Ginny knew she couldn’t have just sat by, day after day, and waited for others to do, to see, and to act on her behalf.
She only hoped, as she guided her son toward their boarding gate, that her chosen course of action hadn’t burned her bridges with the two particular Kenda
lls who’d come to mean so very much to both Benny and her.
* * * *
Deke Walters was a simple man, and generally took pride in being just that, exactly. No one would find a pastel shirt in his closet, and he wouldn’t be caught dead toting one of those “man purses.” He believed the good Lord set an order to things, and that women ought to obey their men, and children should be seen and not heard.
He tended to see things just one way—his way—and he knew what he knew, and that was that.
What he knew right at this particular moment in time was that the source of all his grief had a name, and that name was Ginny Rose.
When he got his hands on that bitch, she’d see the error of her ways right soon enough.
“It’s just too bad you didn’t bring her to me as soon as the two of you hooked up,” Jerry Stone said. “We’d have gotten her trained properly.”
Deke sat in the front seat of Jerry’s car, a piss-yellow Toyota, and kept the ball cap Jer had given him the day before pulled down low so that it shaded his face.
“Women need to be trained so that they know their place. Once you’ve trained them well, you never have to worry. Take that bitch of mine. She’ll let me know when the cops come ’round. She’ll give them the story I gave her, and she’ll say it convincingly, too.” Jer spared him a glance. “I’ll order her to blow you when we get back, if you like. Nothing smoothes a man out like getting a good blow job.”
“Thanks, I’ll take you up on it. You don’t figure the cops will be watching your place?”
“No one saw us together, ’cause you ditched your guards and met me several blocks from the hospital. You didn’t tell that idiot Mayo it was me you was meeting, did ya?”
Deke chuckled. “Give me some credit, Moose. Of course I didn’t. That patsy was just that, a patsy who showed up at the hospital and helped me out for a couple C notes. I didn’t tell him jack shit.”
“Don’t get huffy. I didn’t think you would have. So…cops got no ‘reasonable grounds’ to set eyes on me. We’ll drive past the place on the way back tonight, just to be sure. In the meantime, you figure to cruise through that town where you ditched the kid?”
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