Distinguished Bumpkin

by Sam Cheever

  Reality crashed down on me, pressing me into the couch. I felt as if I weighed a thousand pounds. The phone suddenly felt too heavy to hold. “I have a brother.”

  “Yes, Joey. You have a brother. I had him during my junior year in college. And giving him up was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

  15

  “But why?” I asked my mother.

  “Why what?” She was crying. Her voice was thick with tears.

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me? I could have gotten to know him. We could have been friends.”

  “That’s exactly what we didn’t want!” my mother yelled, shocking us both. She sniffed and sighed. “I’m sorry. This is hitting me harder than I would have expected. Honey, Joshua was part of our past. We had to leave him there.”

  “But why?” I asked, my own tears making it hard to talk.

  There was a moment of silence, thick with tension. When she spoke again, I could barely hear her. “You have no idea what it took out of me…of us…to walk away from that baby. He was a symbol of the love your father and I shared. He was part of us. But it would have been unfair to try to keep him. We were too young, and our lives were still unfolding.”

  “Unfair to whom?” I asked, suddenly so angry. “To you? It wasn’t Joshua’s fault you had him. You should have stepped up. You should have…”

  “Unless you’ve been faced with the same situation,” my mother barked. “Don’t you dare judge me.”

  I knew she was right. I did. Deep down. But I was overwhelmed by such a feeling of loss. I could have had a brother.

  “The people who took him have loved him and cared for him as we would have never been able to,” Joline said. “They’ve been grateful every day to have him in their lives.”

  It took me a moment to understand what her words meant. “You’ve kept up with them?”

  “We have.” There was a smile in her voice. “I know everything about his life. Schools, awards, sports…”

  “So he knew he was adopted?” I interrupted.

  Silence.

  “Mom?”

  “We didn’t want him to know. We didn’t want anything to keep him from being the happiest he could be.”

  I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, so I didn’t comment. Instead, I said, “I need to speak to his adopted parents.”

  “No, Joey.”

  “You don’t understand, Mom. I need to talk to them.”

  “Joey, this isn’t about you or what you need. Joshua has a right to live his own life.”

  “No, Mom. He doesn’t. Not anymore.”

  “What are you talking about?” There was a beat of silence and then, “How did you find out about him?” Her tone was suspicious.

  “He’s here. In Deer Hollow. And I’m afraid he’s mixed up in something really bad. I need to speak to him, but he’s hiding from me. So I have to talk to his parents. I need their help to reach him.”

  “I don’t have the right to give you their number,” she argued. “The Magness’s have requested we not tell family members who they are. They were very insistent on that.”

  All the blood ran from my face and ice filled my chest. I knew that name. And, suddenly, I knew why my brother had shown up in Deer Hollow. “Do the Magness’s have any other children?” I asked.

  “Joey…”

  “Answer me!” I screamed. “Joshua has shown up in the middle of a murder investigation. I need to get ahead of this. I need to know why he’s here and what he has to do with all of it.”

  “Murder?” A soft sob slid through the phone. “No. That’s not possible.”

  “I’d love to agree with you,” I told her. “If that’s true, Hal and I will do everything we can to protect him. But I need more information. I need to know what he knows. And why he’s here.”

  My pleas finally got through to her. In a voice that was little more than a whisper, she said, “They have a daughter. Her name is Karinne.”

  My world shrank down to a pinprick of light as dizziness swamped me.

  “Give me their phone number,” I demanded.

  “No. Even if Josh is involved in something bad, the Magness’s have a right to their privacy.”

  “Jeezopete, Mother!”

  “Give me a couple of hours. Let me speak to them. I’ll get back to you.” Without further warning, she was gone.

  I turned to Hal. He was sitting next to me on the couch, the pibl snoring softly between us. I could tell by the expression on his handsome face that he understood the situation from my side of the conversation. “I’m so sorry, honey.”

  I nodded, scrubbing at my wet cheeks and sniffling. “We need to find him.”

  “Yes,” he said. “We do. But only after you have something to eat. When you talk to your brother, you want to be calm and reasonable. Maybe he has a perfectly understandable reason for being at both scenes.”

  I felt the corners of my lips curving upward, partly because Hal was in my corner and partly because he assumed that in my current state, I could locate reasonable in a tiny room, using both hands and with a flashlight hat on my head.

  “Are you implying I won’t be calm if I don’t eat?”

  He arched a midnight brow at me. “Next to the word, Hangry, in the dictionary is your beautiful face.”

  I gave him a watery laugh. “Okay. I’ll eat. But only if you’ll perform your PI magic and find out everything you can about the Magness’s, including Karinne and my brother Joshua.”

  He leaned in and kissed my forehead. “It would be my pleasure.”

  I climbed to my feet, feeling a hundred years old, and headed upstairs to wash my face.

  The text from my mother came as we were finishing up a late lunch. She’d come through with a phone number for the Magness’s. Despite that, I wasn’t enthused about calling them. My mom’s rationale for protecting their privacy must have sunk in, making guilt a factor in my decision-making process.

  Still, if Joshua was in trouble, his adoptive parents might want to have a chance to help.

  Despite my reservations, I was disappointed when they didn’t answer the phone.

  “I’ll do a reverse search on the number,” Hal said. “It’s a three one seven number, so it’s probably in Indianapolis.”

  He was almost right. It turned out the Magness’s lived in Nineveh, Indiana. A small lake community about twenty-five minutes from Deer Hollow. Hal looked up from jotting down the address. “Do you feel like taking a drive?”

  “I do. Let’s take Caphy, though. She’s been cooped up all day.”

  Joshua and Karinne’s parents lived in a two-story, cabin-style home overlooking a large pond with a fountain in the center. The trees clung closely to the winding gravel drive, making me think for a few minutes that we’d taken a wrong turn.

  When the house came into view a moment later, I was charmed.

  A taupe color with burgundy doors and large windows, the home was adorned on three sides with a wide balcony and had a backdrop of dense woods behind it. The steeply sloping lawn was lush and green, with flowers planted in a raised bed built of railroad ties at the corner closest to the drive.

  A profusion of brightly-hued flowers overflowed several pots on the deck and front porch, as well as in boxes arrayed along the wide railing.

  When we pulled up to the house, a man came out of the matching detached garage, an elderly red dachshund ambling along near his feet. Inside the garage, the hood of a large, silver truck was open, and a radio played rock music from the nineties.

  The man watched us climb out of Hal’s car, his wary gaze sliding from us to a barking Caphy in the back seat. “Don’t let that dog out of your car, now,” the man said with heat in his voice. “Gus here’s afraid of big dogs.”

  “No worries, sir,” Hal said. “It’s nice and shady here, and the windows are cracked. She can stay in the car.”

  I nodded in agreement. Though Caphy would have loved to go for a run on the property, it was Gus’s home, and he deserved to feel sa
fe.

  Besides, the pibl would probably dive into the pond. She’d smell like wet dog and fish all the way home and need a bath.

  Hal offered his hand to the homeowner. “Mr. Magness?”

  The man didn’t take Hal’s hand. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “We don’t take to solicitors here. This is a private neighborhood, and that’s the way we like it.”

  Hal pulled out his credentials and showed them to the homeowner. “I’m sorry to bother you. I’m a private investigator working with the Deer Hollow police.”

  A woman came outside, her dark eyes cold and her body language closed. She had a dishtowel thrown over one shoulder, and her face was moist as if she’d been doing something strenuous when we’d arrived. Mrs. Magness’s hair was the same color as Karinne’s, and she wore it in a riot of curls around her square face. She slid a look toward the car, and her gaze softened when she saw my pibl’s squishy face sticking out of the window.

  Caphy reacted by whining softly, her whole backend wagging in a frenzied greeting.

  “That your dog?” Mrs. Magness asked me.

  I nodded. “That’s Caphy. She’s very friendly.”

  “It’s a Pitbull, Zoie. Keep your distance.” Apparently, old Gus wasn’t the only male in the family who didn’t like big dogs.

  Mrs. Magness blew air through her lips. “Just because she’s a pitty doesn’t make her mean, JD.”

  I smiled at the woman, liking her. “She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. But I understand the hesitation. They’re intimidating.”

  “Why are you here?” Mr. Magness asked. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at me as if I’d shouted an obscenity.

  “It’s about Karinne,” Hal said. “And Joshua.”

  Both Magness’s paled, their gazes meeting and flashing with some kind of silent message. Mrs. Magness’s gaze slid to the house as if she were contemplating making a run for it.

  “What about them?” JD asked, clearly not liking that we were there, upsetting his world.

  “I’m sure you heard about the murders in Deer Hollow?” Hal asked gently.

  JD’s face turned red. His oil-painted hands fisted. “Our kids didn’t have anything to do with those murders. How dare you come here and accuse them? Get off our property!”

  “JD,” his wife soothed.

  “No!” He stepped toward Hal as if intending to attack. “I want you both off my property right now.”

  “We aren’t accusing them of murder, sir,” Hal said. “We just need to question your son on his whereabouts. He’s a person of interest. Wouldn’t you like him to have a chance to clear himself?”

  JD Magness stabbed a finger at the truck. Caphy whined and barked, throwing herself at the door as she reacted to the man’s aggression.

  In response, little Gus started barking too, his voice surprisingly deep for such a small dog.

  Magness noticed Caphy’s agitation. “I’ll go get my gun and shoot that dog if she gets out of that car.”

  “JD!” Mrs. Magness barked at her husband. “Shut your mouth and calm down.”

  The door to the house opened and slammed shut behind a familiar figure. “It’s okay, Dad.”

  We all turned as Karinne descended the two steps to the driveway. “I’ll talk to them.”

  “No, Rinnie,” JD said, taking a step toward his daughter.

  “I want to. Please. Can you take Gus inside and give us some privacy?”

  The Magness’s stared at their daughter for a moment, clearly reluctant to leave her with us. But after some encouragement from his wife, JD Magness finally relented, scooping up old Gus and following his wife into the house.

  Karinne looked at me and nodded toward the truck. “Can she come out and play? I’ve always wanted a pitty, and she seems really sweet.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I told her.

  Karinne’s eyes filled with tears. She sniffed and scrubbed at them. “I’m sorry. I’m just a little emotional right now. Really, it’s okay. If my dad gets upset, I’ll tell him I made you do it.”

  I hesitated.

  “Please?” She looked down at the ground. “To tell you the truth, I need an emotional support animal right now. I lost my dog when my husband and I split, and I miss her.”

  I nodded at Hal, and he went to let Caphy out. Before letting her loose, he clipped a leash on her, then led her to Karinne.

  The pibl was so excited her whole body was wagging. The moment she swiped a big kiss over Karinne’s arm, the other woman was on her knees, her arms wrapped around my dog.

  It nearly broke my heart. Something was clearly going on with her.

  My softhearted PI handed Karinne his clean handkerchief. She took it and gave him a watery smile. “Thanks. Why don’t we walk down to the pond?”

  I nearly grimaced. Caphy would surely be in the water if I let her. “Okay, but we’ll need to keep hold of the leash, or you’re going to have a pibl-shaped fish in your pond.”

  Karinne laughed, pushing to her feet.

  We walked for a moment in silence, allowing Karinne to regain her equilibrium. By the time we sat down on the bench overlooking the fountain, she seemed calm again. Caphy lay down on the grass and dropped her head onto her paws, watching the fountain as if she wanted to play with it. I had no doubt she did.

  “In my senior year of high school, I was filled with a desire to change the world. Not so different from all my friends, but unlike them, I found an outlet for it. A friend of mine urged me to come with her to intern for an Indianapolis city council candidate, and I thought that would be fun. It was fun at first. Exciting. Especially since the candidate was so charming.” She winced. “At least, he seemed that way to me. I was young and stupid.” She toed off her flip-flops and rubbed her bare foot over Caphy’s soft back. My dog turned her head and licked Karinne’s toes in thanks.

  Karinne giggled. “She’s awesome.”

  “She is.”

  “I’m sorry my dad was such a jerk about her.”

  “No worries. People have a right to their opinions.” I fell silent, wanting her to get back to her story. I heard a soft splash and turned in time to see a rock skip several times over the lake’s surface. Hal had moved away to give Karinne privacy with her story. He could no doubt tell what was coming.

  Unfortunately, so could I.

  Karinne sighed. “It started with small things. Fingers brushing and lingering a bit longer than they should. Then a hand on the back that did the same. But then he started encouraging me to join him at the diner across the street to work. And then, we were alone in the office one night…”

  I reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it. “Did he hurt you?”

  She shook her head, sniffling. “He was inappropriate. He made me really uncomfortable, but he didn’t rape me. I thought I could control the behavior at first. I tried to keep at least one other person with us at all times. But he was a master manipulator, and he was good at maneuvering me into delicate situations.” She frowned. “My friend didn’t believe he was giving me unwelcome attention. She accused me of trying to seduce him. I think she was jealous.”

  My heart broke a little for the eighteen-year-old girl who’d had to deal with a jerk of an adult who should have known better.

  “The worst part is,” she glanced at me, tears shimmering in her gaze. “He liked to keep trophies.”

  My stomach twisted. “He kept something of yours?”

  She shuddered violently. When she spoke, her voice sounded slightly strangled, almost too soft to hear. “Yes.”

  I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tugged her close. “I’m so sorry you went through that.”

  Sniffling, she nodded. “When I threatened to tell, Martin Robb promised to ruin my family. He had lots of friends in government and business. I knew he’d do it. So I just stopped coming into the office. I begged my parents to let me go visit my aunt in New York for the rest of the summer.”

  “And he left you a
lone?”

  She nodded. “Unfortunately, Joshua found out what happened.”

  “How?”

  “My…” She made air quotes with her fingers. “Friend told him.”

  Women could be such skunks. “What did he do?”

  She glanced at me. “Nothing overt. He knew how dangerous getting on Robb’s bad side could be. But Josh is really smart, and he’s dedicated himself to getting information on Robb. He’s been working on finding the right kind of proof to sink him for years.”

  That kind of tenacity was both admirable and a little scary, I thought. Then a wave of sadness slid through me. I had a brother. And he was smart and determined. I thought I’d probably like him if we ever met.

  “When I found out the client whose party we were catering was Robb, I panicked. I called Josh and asked him what I should do. I wanted to just walk away. But I really need this job. I need to get my own place so I can have Daisy again.”

  “Daisy?”

  She smiled. “My dog. She’s a lab mix. Really sweet like Caphy. But my dad’s afraid of big dogs, so I can’t have her here.”

  There was a twinkle in her eye, so I tweaked her a little. “I thought Old Gus was the one who was afraid of big dogs?”

  She snorted out a laugh. “I’m afraid dad’s using Gus as an excuse. Truth is, Dad was attacked by a dog once. It happened to be a Rottweiler. But Dad was only five, and the attack has stuck with him.” She gave me a sad smile. “He loves that crotchety little dachshund. I don’t want to burst his bubble by telling him a little dog’s far more likely to bite than a big one.”

  I chuckled, not sure that was precisely true, but knowing people tended to underestimate the ferocity of a yapper and overestimate the ferociousness of a large breed. “Anybody who loves a dog is my people,” I told her with a smile.

  Her eyes glossy with unshed tears, she nodded.