“Don’t you tickle me.” I spoke the words even though I knew better.
“What would you prefer to a good tickling?” His fingers lightly traced across my stomach. I tried not to flinch but couldn’t control it. I wasn’t normally super ticklish, but he’d hit the button. Now anything he did would tickle. He kissed my ear and nuzzled my neck. “Like this better?”
In fact I did. A whole lot. But I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of saying so.
“Okay, then back to a little tickle.”
“Stop! I want a kiss.” He rolled over and pulled me atop him. “You’re a devil, Coleman. You’re bigger and stronger and I’m no match.”
He laughed so hard I began to worry. “No match! Oh, right. Who was the last man you pulled that on and it worked?”
I thought about it. “No one.” I leaned down and kissed his earlobe—before I bit it hard enough to make him jump. “That’s for tormenting me.”
“Is that it?” he taunted.
“My mind has turned to romance,” I whispered. “Payback can wait until you least expect it.”
“If I’m good at my job, you won’t remember I need to be paid back.” He drew me to him and we kissed. It was as if we were both starved for a passionate connection. Though we’d made love for an hour in the woods and fallen asleep, we were on fire.
* * *
By the time I finally staggered out of bed, the sun was up and my cell phone was ringing. It was Christmas Eve. A lot of things would happen today and I felt like I’d been run over by a truck. Coleman wasn’t a lot spryer. He groaned as he grabbed his clothes and pulled them on. “I’ll shower at home and find a clean uniform,” he said.
“Coffee?” I asked.
“A cup might help a lot.”
We went downstairs and I put on the coffeepot before I called Tinkie back. “Coleman is just leaving. Give me fifteen minutes,” I told her.
“I’ll be at your door in twenty. We have work to do.”
Before I could ask another question, she’d hung up.
14
“Sarah Booth, I have to tell you that Dahlia House looks lovely. I didn’t realize you were such a fan of The Nutcracker. I love the dance where the sugar plum fairy is center stage.” Tinkie held a cup of coffee in one hand and moved around the parlor in a gentle glide as the beautiful music swelled around us. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I hadn’t turned the radio on. Jitty had found the obscure FM station playing the ballet—a station I’d never heard of and suspected could be found only in the Great Beyond, not in Memphis. Jitty was driving her message home—if only I could figure out what her message was. The lovely ballet obviously was symbolic to her, but of what?
I’d said goodbye to Coleman and parting was indeed sweet sorrow. I’d also managed to knock back two cups of coffee and take a steaming hot shower, all within the allotted time of twenty minutes that Tinkie had set. She’d arrived right on time, wearing a forest green tunic and pale green leggings. “You need some little shoes with the toes turned up and a pointy hat. You could be a forest elf. One of Santa’s helpers.”
“You need to go to bed at a reasonable hour instead of having sex all night and looking like clotted sawmill gravy the next morning.” She grinned.
I instinctively put my hands to my cheeks. I did look rough, no way around it. “What’s the work we have to do?” Best to move on to new topics. I’d learned the art of distracting and deflecting since I’d moved home.
“The money drop is tonight.” Tinkie walked to the kitchen to refill her coffee cup and I followed. “We have to stick to Cece like glue. She’s going to try to ditch us, but one of us has to be with her at all times. Do you want the first shift or should I take it?” She laughed. “Never mind. Grab a couple of hours of sleep. I’ll go sit on her like a hen hatching an egg.”
I nodded my agreement. I really did need at least two hours of sleep or I’d be a worthless zombie. “Text me and keep me abreast.”
Tinkie nodded. “Think of a way to keep Cece safe tonight. I’m worried.”
“Me, too.” My gut instinct told me to include Coleman even if the location was out of his jurisdiction and even if Cece got mad. Yet I couldn’t make myself take that action.
“Go to bed,” Tinkie directed gently. “You act like you’re in a fog.”
“Thanks, maybe some sleep will help me think more clearly.”
I stood at the front door and watched Tinkie and Chablis cross the front porch and get into her new car. They tore down the driveway. Tinkie always drove at top speed, and it was one of the many things I loved about her.
Honoring my word, I trudged up the stairs to return to my warm bed, but even as I climbed beneath the covers, I knew it was pointless. My brain was racing and my conscience was engaged in a terrible tug-of-war. Acting as Cece’s friend, what should I do about Coleman? Each passing moment put me closer and closer to telling him—and possibly putting Eve in more and more danger. I pulled the covers over my head and tried to sleep.
A low howling started at the foot of the bed and I peeked from beneath the quilt to stare at Sweetie Pie Delaney. I swear the dog was giving me the evil eye. I felt something in my hair and realized Pluto was playing with my curls. The critters wanted me up. It was pointless to resist. Next Jitty would be prancing around as a character from a ballet. It was time to get up and get busy.
I dressed in warm clothes and went down to the kitchen. When I picked up my jacket to slip into it, the photograph of the two babies fell onto the floor. Who were these infants and what role did they play in Eve’s abduction? This image had to be the key to figuring out everything else. I just didn’t know how it applied. There was one place to start asking.
When the horses were fed, my coffee-to-go was in the insulated cup, and I had a toasted bagel in a napkin, I called my pets. “Load up,” I told them. “We’re on a mission.” I resisted the temptation to call Tinkie and Cece and headed out to the farm where Carla and Will Falcon lived. They were going to speak with me—and give me the truth—before my friend was hurt beyond repair. And before my relationship with Coleman was irrevocably damaged. The Falcons might not recognize the babies in the photo, but they might. Carla and Will would give nothing up voluntarily, but if I caught them unawares, they might give away information that would help us find Eve.
The drive was pleasant; the day was overcast, the large gray clouds forming on the horizon. They moved in massive fronts, like the mist of giants warring with each other. I’d laughed at the weatherman’s prediction of snow for Christmas Eve night, but looking at the pregnant sky, it was a real possibility. Snow made the whole world new again, and we never had a white Christmas in the Delta. This would be an occasion to celebrate.
When I pulled up at the Falcon farm, Carla was staring out the window at me. I stopped by the front gate and got out. I wanted to speak to them one at a time so I hoped Will was busy or gone. Sweetie and Pluto ran to inspect the yard and generally snoop. I went to the front door. Before I stepped onto the porch, Carla banged out the door, her face pinched with fury. “I told you to leave this property once. Now I’m telling you to leave and don’t come back or I’ll be pressing charges against you.”
“Go ahead.” As I spoke Pluto slipped past Carla and into the house. There would really be hell to pay now. Sweetie sauntered up to the edge of the porch, watching with that innocent hound dog expression that belied her great intelligence.
“What do you want?” Carla asked.
“Do you know who these babies are?” I held the photo out to her, but she wouldn’t step close enough to take it.
“No. I don’t know and don’t care.” She looked down when she spoke.
I assessed her reaction—her refusal to even look. She’d treated Eve abominably. What mother could do that to her child? To my amusement, I saw Sweetie Pie slink behind Carla, cutting off access to the front door. From inside the house Pluto pushed the heavy door closed with a big slam. Carla froze. She’d been outmaneuv
ered by a dog and cat.
“You’d better not hurt me.” She actually looked afraid.
“Why would I hurt you?” I asked softly. I stepped onto the porch, closing the distance between us. “Cruelty to a helpless child might be a reason, don’t you think? Good thing my partner isn’t here. She was very angry when we learned of the way you treated your own daughter. See, my partner would give anything to have a child, and you had one and did everything in your power to make her life a misery. You can see how that might piss Tinkie off.”
“You have no proof about anything you say. You can’t even prove Eve is really missing. Maybe she just moved, like she did when she was sixteen. She’s always done exactly what she wanted.” She lifted her head on her scrawny neck and I realized I could probably wring her neck like an old chicken. It was a very tempting visual.
“Who are these children?” I pushed the photo at her again.
“Not mine, and that’s all that matters.” She edged backward but stopped when Sweetie gave a low growl deep in her throat.
“You know these babies, and somehow they relate to Eve. I’m going to figure it out, Carla. In the meantime, if anything bad befalls Eve, I promise you I’ll make you pay.”
“You think you know so much, but you don’t know anything. Now get off my property.” She shook a finger in my face and Sweetie Pie obliged with a serious growl.
“I wouldn’t tempt my dog, Carla. She can sniff out a child abuser from a mile away.” It was a harsh judgment but one Carla had earned, as far as I was concerned. I had one chance to pressure the truth out of her and I didn’t intend to squander it, even if I had to play hardball with her.
“I’ll have that mutt put to sleep,” she warned.
“Not if you’re dead.” I really disliked her. A lot. “You know these children and you’re going to tell me who they are and why they matter to Eve.” She was like a cornered rat—dangerous and vicious. I had to squeeze the truth out of her and quick. Any minute Will would come out or she’d rush into the house. Sweetie Pie might trip her, but my dog wouldn’t bite. It was now or never. “Who are these babies?” I jammed the photo in her face.
She knocked my arm down. “All that matters to me is that they’re not my blood. And not my responsibility.” She regained her composure. “You get off my property or you’re going to be sorry.” Carla opened the door to go inside, but cast a look back to make sure I was leaving.
I’d seen the truth. She did know the babies in the photo. She knew them and something about them scared her. “Sweetie Pie! Pluto!” I called my pets as I slammed through the gate and to the car. Sweetie was right beside me and Pluto shot out the front door before Carla could slam it shut. She hadn’t told me what I needed to know, but now I knew where to look. Carla had given me more than she’d ever dreamed. Her selfish, cold heart had betrayed her.
I drove straight to the Sunflower County courthouse. Sure enough a crane was removing the statue of Johnny Reb. I took a minute to register the thud to my heart. More than an emblem of any war or cause to me, Johnny Reb was a part of my childhood. He’d been there, a landmark to my childhood, when my daddy worked in the courthouse.
Before I continued into the building, I bid the statue a sad goodbye. The chancery clerk’s office was my destination. I resisted the temptation to duck into the sheriff’s office to see Coleman. Now wasn’t the time. I went back to the record room and began my math calculations. I needed adoption records from twenty years ago.
With the help from a clerk, I went to work. An hour later, I finally found what I was looking for. Will and Carla Falcon were approved to adopt a little girl.
Eve was not their natural child. That’s why Carla hated her so much. She wasn’t blood—therefore she was an intruder, an outsider, someone who somehow threatened Carla’s place in the family. Which meant that Eve was likely Will’s child from an affair.
How had no one told us this? And if the photograph was indeed a picture of Eve, who was the other baby?
I called Cece, glad to know she and Tinkie were putting the last-minute touches on the costumes for the three wise men for the Christmas pageant. “Thank goodness you called. We’ve been gluing and sewing for the last three hours. If I go to the bathroom, Tinkie follows me like I’m going to flush myself down the toilet and escape through the sewers. God save me, Tinkie has me making up the beards for the wise men. They’re going to look like something off Duck Dynasty. What’s up?” Cece asked.
“Why didn’t you tell us Eve was adopted?”
There was a slight pause. “What?”
“Eve isn’t Carla’s child. She may be Will’s, but not Carla’s.”
“I have to sit down. This explains so much.” She clicked the phone to speaker and brought Tinkie into the conversation.
“Do you ever remember hearing family discussions of Will having an affair?” I asked.
“No,” Cece said slowly. “Will was my father’s brother, but they were estranged, for the most part. No one liked Carla. My mother detested her. We saw them on holidays but there was never any real interaction other than those duty visits.”
“So you never saw Carla pregnant?” I asked.
“Carla stayed on the farm,” Cece said. “She didn’t belong to any of the social clubs. She was from that rigorous religious background where social events or fun were looked upon as the devil’s temptation.” She cleared her throat. “Are you saying Will had an affair that produced Eve, then forced Carla to take her in as her own child?”
“Looks that way.”
“I remember some gossip,” Tinkie chimed in. “Back when we were just starting high school, I was up at the bank with my daddy. Will Falcon came in and went into my father’s office. Of course, I didn’t know anything about him then, but I’ve always been a snoop. The door was cracked and I heard Will ask about taking out a loan for a child, one that he couldn’t personally take care of but who needed support. It never occurred to me until this minute that he was looking to provide for an illegitimate baby.”
I looked down at the photo I held. “That picture we found in Eve’s house. If she is one baby, who is the other one?”
“A sibling? A baby born at the same time. That looks like a hospital gown the woman is wearing, but there’s not enough of her torso showing.”
“If Eve has a brother or sister, that could be big. We have to resolve this.”
“What if Will somehow convinced Carla to adopt the one baby, but not the other one? That’s so horrible.” Cece’s voice registered her distress. “Carla never loved Eve. She resented her from the get-go and over the years as Eve grew more beautiful, Carla just grew more and more bitter and meaner and meaner. This explains a lot.”
“It’s a likely supposition you’ve put together,” Tinkie said, “but we have to prove it. We have to have solid proof. If there’s a sibling still alive, we need to find that person, too.”
“How does this help us find Eve?” Cece asked.
“I’m not sure, but what if her birth family has abducted her? What if the man stalking her in Cleveland is a relative?”
“I need to speak with Uncle Will.” Cece’s voice was tight with anger. I could imagine her jaw so clenched she was at risk of cracking her teeth.
“It may not do any good to talk to Will.” Tinkie was gentle but upfront. “He seems to have bought into Carla’s worldview.”
“I have to try.” Cece rustled the telephone and I could tell she was gathering her things to leave. “Now you two listen to me. I’m going to talk to Will, and I have to do this alone. He’s a proud man and if Eve is the offspring of an affair, he’s not going to want to admit it in front of you.” There was a pause. “Especially not if he cared for one child but not the other. Tinkie, could you help Mrs. Ethel with that headdress for Mary? Then we can leave.”
“I’ll be right back,” Tinkie said.
When I knew she was away from the phone, I continued. “Cece, promise me you’ll be careful and no matter what you learn
, you won’t do anything rash.”
“Will has always been a coward, but to be bullied into abandoning his own child. That just takes it too far. The Falcon family once had pride and integrity. I’m not the son my father wanted, but at least I know right from wrong and have enough starch to stand up for the ethical thing.”
“You’re a good person. Never lose sight of that. And none of us are responsible for our relatives. We can’t help the family we’re born into.”
“Thank you, Sarah Booth.”
“Please bring Tinkie to the courthouse,” I suggested. “I could use her help looking up some old records. And be sure to drop her at the back door. She’ll be upset at what’s happening out front.”
“Sure thing. What’s happening out front?”
“The statue is coming down.”
“Oh, dear. It has to be done, but a lot of people are going to be hurt by this. I’ll get a photo for the paper while I’m there. We must own the truth of our past or forever live in the shadow of it,” Cece said. “I’ll drop her off.” And Cece was gone, the phone call ended.
* * *
“Sarah Booth!” Tinkie called to me as she entered the vault-like room where old records were kept. Newer records were on the computer, but the older ones remained in large books that weighed a ton.
“Here!” I raised a hand over the stacks of bound volumes and other records and caught her attention.
“Have you found out who Eve’s birth mother is?” Tinkie asked.
“There wasn’t a mention of her in the files. Eve was born in the Tishomingo County hospital. Her birthday is June 21. Why don’t you give the hospital a call and see if they can tell you the birth records from that time.”
“They probably won’t tell me. HIPAA and all of that. But they’d tell Coleman.”
She was right about that. “That’s a good point, but you’re preaching to the choir. We need Coleman’s help, in my opinion.” I sighed. “I wish Cece wasn’t so bullheaded.”
Tinkie’s grin was a hundred watts. “Why don’t I sashay down to the sheriff’s office and see if Coleman or DeWayne or Budgie can help me track down Eve’s birth mother? As a favor.”
A Gift of Bones--A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery Page 14