Saving Sam

by Lynnette Beers

Might be some sort of old teenage feud. I’m not going to stop till that guy is convicted and behind bars. Forensics has determined the person driving the truck is definitely at fault for the accident. The type of impact on the front and side of the truck indicates Robert’s Chevy was intentionally hit. We’ll make sure the DA tries him for everything they can: car theft, attempted murder, hit and run, reckless driving, even stalking. With his previous record, the guy’s going to be put away for a long time. Now we just have to find him. It’s only a matter of time till we arrest him. Jonathan Patterson is probably closer than we think. There’s more I need to tell you, but I’d rather do that over the phone. Call me as soon as you can, okay?

  Sam’s breath halted in her chest as she stared at that name: Jonathan Patterson. The significance bore down on her like molten lava. She became lightheaded and set a heavy hand on the wall. Sam should return to her date, but she could hardly wrap her head around this news. Kim paced a few feet away from her in the entryway, laughing and engrossed in a conversation on her phone—probably talking with Adrianna once again.

  She pushed her body away from the wall and glanced again at that name. This couldn’t be happening. Robert hadn’t mentioned anything about Johnny being back, but maybe he hadn’t figured out that this was the same Johnny. Sam thought he’d left Mississippi back in the nineties since that was when she and Robert stopped seeing signs of him around the creek. No more hang-up calls. No threatening notes pinned to the barn door. No trucks speeding down the dirt road late at night. As time went on, Sam figured Johnny had been arrested and gone to prison or left the state.

  Sam took a couple slow steps away from the snakes and steadied herself on the wall as she neared the exit. She tried to focus on each breath and attempted to fill her lungs with air, but the uneven breathing caused her to hyperventilate. Her hands and lips became tingly, so she sat down on the hard ground and lowered her head between her knees and took a few slow, controlled breaths. After so many years, Johnny was still around and on the loose. He could be anywhere by now—in Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, even as far away as California. Or he could still be in Covington County.

  Part II

  “With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate

  Of life at once untie: poor venomous fool

  Be angry, and dispatch.”

  ~ Antony and Cleopatra

  Chapter Fourteen

  Mississippi: Autumn 1990

  A CRISP AUTUMN breeze wafted through the leaves of the magnolia tree, causing the empty swing to sway back and forth. Sam hadn’t swung under that tree in about three weeks—not since right before school started earlier this month. The tree had matured, resulting in its wide, cascading branches obscuring the view of the Okatoma Creek.

  Since returning from church, Sam had changed out of her scratchy Sunday dress and stiff Mary Jane shoes and relaxed on the porch with Robert nearby. Now barefoot and in faded jeans and a tank top, she sat in Mama’s wooden rocker and peered across the lawn. Stanley, her chocolate lab puppy, paced from one end of the porch to the other until he settled at Sam’s feet. He whined until she picked him up and set him in the rocker, but once on her lap, he slopped wet kisses on her face. In a couple months, Stanley would be too big to sit in this chair. With his huge paws and sharp claws, he scratched Sam’s bare arm to get her to pet him some more. She’d soon train Stanley to be the best watchdog, teaching him that barking at any intruders on their property would earn him a treat.

  Near the porch, Robert sawed off the ends of a few narrow logs, making each one the same exact length. He gripped a machete in his hand then kneeled down to scrape a groove into the end of one of the logs. Even though he hadn’t finished his project in time to use it during summer break, he still cut and varnished each log to prepare it for the raft. The final days of September usually meant time for the Cleveland kids to enjoy the last days of warm weather by frolicking along the Okatoma, but today Sam remained on the porch with Stanley on her lap and Robert nearby. The steady rhythm of the saw slicing through the wood soothed her as she scanned the property for anything out of the ordinary.

  For the past few weeks, Sam had no interest in food. Because of the constant knot in her stomach, she barely managed to get more than a couple sips of milk down or a few small bites of bland food. Her pants hung loosely on her body, her hips and ribcage so bony now. Each night, Jane ordered her to finish her dinner before leaving the table, but Sam just pushed the food around on her plate or snuck pieces of meat to Stanley. She swallowed a few morsels or hid the food in her napkin. During lunchbreak at school, she only ate a couple bites of her sandwich then tossed the rest in the trash.

  But right now, for the first time in weeks, Sam felt hungry. While she listened to Robert’s rhythmic sawing, she peeled feathery strands of string cheese and nibbled on each salty morsel. Sam placed another thread of cheese in her mouth, but then she heard the faint sound of sirens a couple miles away. Stanley sat upright and growled as his ears perked up. Within a few seconds, the sirens got louder and closer to the house. Sam plugged her ears the nearer the emergency vehicles came.

  Jane came barreling out of the house and stood at the end of the porch and peered down the dirt road. “Samantha, don’t leave the porch. You stay right there. Robert, get over here! Your dad’s on his way home. He told me to make sure you two stay in the house.”

  “Ah, Mama, I can’t stop what I’m doing right now,” Robert hollered. “I gotta put varnish on the wood in time to let it dry before supper. That’s the most important step. How’s a raft supposed to not get waterlogged without the varnish?”

  “That can wait. Get over here now! You kids need to get in the house.”

  Robert threw the saw onto the lawn and stormed over to the house. Sam stood next to her mother and looped her fingers around Stanley’s collar. His growl became deeper as the sirens neared. On the road adjacent to the house, clouds of dust billowed in the air as a police car stopped in the driveway. Another car barreled down the road and parked behind the first vehicle. Next, a truck skidded to a stop in the driveway. The door flung open, and Harold Cleveland stepped out of the vehicle. He slammed the door then headed to the house. Two uniformed officers followed him through the yard and to the porch.

  “You kids get in the house,” Harold said and stomped up the stairs. “You heard me. Get in the house now.”

  Robert and Sam hurried into the house but hovered in the entryway close to the screen door where they could hear what their parents said. Sam recognized heavy footsteps clomping up the stairs and the deep sounds of men’s voices. She peeked through the mesh screen and saw the two officers standing behind her father.

  “Sir, any ID on the bodies? You reckon they’re locals?” one officer asked.

  “Neither of them had any form of ID on them. No wallet, nothing,” Harold said.

  “They found two bodies?” Jane asked. “You didn’t tell me there was more than one body. Harold, do you think they were killed for their money?”

  “Honey, at this point all we know is that they found two male bodies washed up on the side of the river. I’m going back to the scene after I make sure you and the kids are safe inside.”

  “Is the coroner there yet?” one officer asked.

  “He’s on his way now,” Harold said. “We’ve got four officers searching the scene, and more from the state are on their way. So far they only found a man’s belt in the woods upstream a ways and a few bullet casings. They’ll check for fingerprints on the belt buckle and continue searching for more evidence.”

  “Sir, they found an empty wallet on shore down a ways,” one of the officers said. “No ID, though, nothing with a name on it. No way to connect it to either of the victims.”

  “Harold, how close did they find the bodies?” Jane asked quietly.

  “One was found wedged under a log on the banks of the river about fifty yards downstream from here. A man out walking his dog early this morning found the corpse just past that sandy clearing
.”

  “Oh, Harold! You didn’t tell me it was that close to the house.”

  “Once the officers got there, they searched the area and found the other body a bit farther down, stuck on some low-hanging branches along the river. We don’t know yet if the two deaths are related.”

  Sam huddled next to Robert as a chill washed over her. It was nearly ninety degrees outside, but she shivered and cowered next to Stanley and Robert. The adults spoke quietly on the porch, but Sam could hear almost every word they uttered.

  “Do they know who they are? Are they from the area?” Jane’s voice quivered.

  “Honey, we don’t know yet,” Harold said.

  “Ma’am, the victims’ bodies were probably in the river for at least a few weeks,” one of the officers said. “The bodies are pretty bloated. Sometimes a corpse is so decomposed that it makes identification nearly impossible. When a body’s been in the water for so long, the skin starts sloughing off and sometimes—”

  “Anderson, that’s enough,” Harold said. “Why don’t you two go on foot from here to see if you can find any other evidence.”

  “Sorry, Mrs. Cleveland,” the officer said. “We’ll take care of matters soon. Don’t you worry about a thing.”

  Sam reached up to cling to Robert’s T-shirt. The heavy clomp of the officers’ boots as they descended the stairs was loud in her ears. Her parents continued to talk quietly, so Sam concentrated hard to try and hear what they said. Worried they’d somehow figure out that Sam and Robert knew about the bodies, she focused on what the grown-ups said.

  “Honey, you stay put in the house. I’ll be back as soon as I can. They’ll work on identifying the men once the coroner examines the bodies. Don’t let those kids out of the house while we’re searching the area. You get in the house and lock the door after I leave.”

  “Harold, who could’ve done this?”

  “Janey, we’re working on this. The bodies were only just discovered this morning. My guess is they died a few weeks ago, maybe more. It’s hard to tell, but it looks like one guy has pretty extensive trauma to the head.”

  “What do I tell the kids?”

  “I’ll talk to them real quick before I go, and then I’ll tell them more later, maybe see if they might’ve seen anybody around the creek recently that they might not have recognized. Honey, I’ve gotta get back to the scene. I just wanted to make sure you and the kids were all right.”

  Robert nudged Sam to back away from the door, so the two of them tiptoed down the hallway as the screen door squeaked open. They stood midway down the hall and faced their father when he came inside. Sick to her stomach, Sam tried to stop her body from trembling.

  “Not sure what you two might’ve heard out there, but you need to listen carefully to what I’m about to say. You kids are not to go anywhere near the creek today or tomorrow. You hear me? There will likely be lots of law enforcement around here in the next few days. Once you get home from school tomorrow, you two stay close to home, and by close, I mean you’re not to go past the porch. Don’t go anywhere near the creek until I tell you it’s safe to do so.”

  “What about my project?” Robert said. “That wood’s gotta be varnished before the rainy season.”

  “For now, that can wait. You stay here with your mom and sister. You keep an eye on Sam.” Harold bent over to kiss Sam on the top of her head and then crouched down so that he was eye level with her. “Baby girl, your brother’s gonna keep an eye on you while I’m not home. You two can watch all the TV you want while you stay inside. I’ll be back just as soon as I can.”

  After Harold left the house, Jane bolted and latched the door then parted the curtains and looked outside. Sam stood by her side. The swing that dangled from the magnolia tree still swayed from the wind. For now, Sam was safe inside the house—with the doors locked and her brother and her watchdog by her side.

  Chapter Fifteen

  San Diego: Autumn 2014

  AFTER SHE ARRIVED in front of the apartment building and parked her Subaru Forester next to the curb, Sam put the car in park, shut off the engine, then leaned over the console and pressed her lips against Kim’s. She clasped her hands in Kim’s and rocked forward. “I’m really sorry about this. Trust me, this isn’t how I wanted tonight to end, but with the latest information about the investigation, I’d probably be totally preoccupied and not very good company.” Sam bit her lower lip and released Kim’s hand. She leaned back in the seat and fussed with her iPhone to try and get the Bluetooth connected.

  By now, Annie was probably back home and possibly going to sleep soon. In all their years together, Annie was in bed by nine, even sometimes by eight, since she typically had to be to work by six in the morning. If Sam called her within the next few minutes, she’d catch her before she was asleep.

  Kim fumbled with her house keys and grasped her hand on the door handle. “I get it. I mean, I think I do. It’s just that...you seem kinda preoccupied every time we go out. I mean, when you’re even in town and available to go out. I know it’s rough with your brother being in the hospital, but...it just seems like more is going on than you worrying about Robert.”

  “Annie says they’ve got some leads on the investigation.” Sam drummed her fingers on the gearshift and tapped her foot on the floorboard. The sun had dropped to the horizon, creating a pink glow inside the Forester. Sam glimpsed at her phone. Annie’s number was displayed on the screen, ready to be called.

  “Since it’s still pretty early, I’ll probably pop into REI for more gear,” Kim said and kissed Sam one more time. She stared into Sam’s eyes for a moment then ran her fingers through her hair. “I’m here if you want to talk, or...do something to get your mind off things. I know how hard this must be on you and your mom.”

  “Robert is stable right now. Vitals are good. Meds have been decreased. But I know he’ll never—” Sam stopped herself and gazed out the side window. A few cars rolled past, the sun at the end of the street dipping closer to the horizon. She set her head back on the headrest and closed her eyes and felt Kim’s hand on her knee. She exhaled and turned so that she faced Kim. She glanced at her soft and full lips and thought for a second about putting off the call to Annie until tomorrow morning, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to relax if she didn’t get updated tonight.

  “I’m sure I’ll be up late going through my gear for the trip. Call me later? Or, come over, even if it’s super late.” Kim pressed her lips against Sam’s, the kisses sweet and soft. Then she slid her hand onto Sam’s inner thigh and gave her another quick peck on the lips.

  Sam wanted more than a tender kiss goodbye. She wanted to leave something with Kim that would make her ache with desire until they could be intimate again. Their kisses quickly became more intense. Even though they’d made out many times, these kisses felt new and eager. As Sam’s breathing increased in intensity, so did her desire for Kim. She couldn’t get enough of her—not this afternoon at the zoo, not here in the car, probably not when they eventually would have sex again. She caressed Kim’s hair and pulled her closer. The inside of the car had become dark, reminding Sam of how late it was back in Mississippi.

  Kim reached her hand under the waistband of Sam’s shorts and moved her fingers down to the soft patch of hair. With one stroke of Kim’s finger, Sam felt herself getting increasingly wet. Eager for more, Sam’s tongue entered Kim’s mouth. A fire coursed through her body as her lips again met Kim’s. Then Kim slid a finger over Sam’s wetness as they continued to make out. The heat continued to mount. Aware that she preferred a bed on which to make love and mindful that she still needed to call Annie, she gripped her hand on Kim’s wrist and guided her away from her crotch and out of her shorts. Sam glanced at the clock on the dashboard. While at the zoo and in the Reptile House, she’d texted Annie to say she’d call her right away. That was well over an hour ago.

  “You’re so...incredible, but I can’t—I mean, just not right now,” Sam said then interlaced her fingers with Kim’s.
It was all she could do to not straddle Kim right here in the car, to thrust her body against hers, but her mind was elsewhere. Sam pulled Kim’s hand up to her lips then kissed her knuckles. She stared into Kim’s eyes. She felt like a teenager lately whenever she was with Kim—eager, amorous, and aroused.

  “God, you’ve gotten me so wet,” Kim said and leaned over to kiss Sam one more time, thrusting her tongue into her mouth.

  “You sure know how to get a girl going. It’s been a while since I’ve made out in a car, but...I’d prefer a bed for what I’d like to do. Or even a couch.”

  “I’ve got both, ready and waiting for you.” Kim giggled and set her hand on the door handle. “You’re sure you can’t come in? Maybe just for a little while? Like, only an hour? I’ll make it worth your time. Hell, I’d make out with you anywhere. In a car, out somewhere on the trails, on a secluded beach, well, even in the reptile enclosure at the San Diego Fucking Zoo. You’re so hot. Anybody ever tell you that?”

  “I vaguely recall some young hottie telling me that just this afternoon.” Sam kissed the back of Kim’s hand then moved it up to her mouth and slowly began to suck on her middle finger. Then she placed her other hand between Kim’s legs.

  “I’ve got a better place for that finger,” Kim said and moaned softly.

  “That’ll have to wait until another time. This is just a little something to keep you thinking of me till we see each other again.”

  “Such a tease, but...there’s always tomorrow night and the next night. We’re not leaving for Mammoth for a couple days, but I’ll only be gone a week. We’ve been apart for way longer than that since we started dating. Adrianna can’t take off work or school for more than a week. Otherwise, we’d be making this a two-week trip. But, I’m realizing it’s probably good that I’ll only be away from you for a week. You know, it’s been a while since I’ve said that to a woman. I think high school was the last time I felt that way about someone.”