A Tale of Two Lenores

by Terry Mattingly

  “Yes ma’am. He is here in town. I can call him now or, if you want, you can make the call.” Shane offered her the use of his cell phone.

  Casey did not hesitate, taking the phone she left the kitchen. Her companions could hear her laughing and crying, all at once. When she reentered the kitchen, she returned the phone to the detective. “David wants to speak with you, Detective Travers.”

  The woman, Ms. Collins, asked Casey if she wanted to freshen up before they talked. She gladly accepted the offer and Charlie showed her the bathroom, giving her clean towels. She would have to put her week-old dirty clothes back on, right now Casey didn’t care. When she rejoined the group, Detective Travers and Ms. Collins sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee. Lenore poured her a cup. Charlie and Mr. Travers were not in sight.

  “Thank you, Ms. Collins. I’ve been in coffee withdrawal for a week.” Casey said, smiling.

  “I understand completely.” Lenore Collins gave her a warm, genuine smile. “Please, call me Lenore.”

  Casey Scott took a few sips of the hot, delicious nectar. “Mm, this is good. Where is Charlie?”

  “Dad is wanted to be alone with Charlie when heard the news about Professor Collins.”

  Casey started. She had forgotten to ask about Charlie’s friend, and from the look on the faces of the people in front of her, the news was not good. “Oh no. Please don’t tell me he didn’t make it.”

  It was his daughter that answered. “Dad died Sunday morning, Casey.”

  Rivulets of tears flowed from the woman’s blue eyes and she sobbed softly. “I am so sorry, Lenore. Oh my God, what have I done?”

  Casey spent with exhaustion, despair over Brad’s death, and now the news that Charlie’s friend died, broke down in tears. Leni and Shane sat by in shocked silence, as gut-wrenching sobs racked the woman’s body. Hearing Casey’s wretched sobbing, Charlie rushed in the room. His own eyes reddened from crying, Charlie hugged his friend tightly, rocking the woman as if she was a baby until the tears subsided.

  When her crying did subside, Casey flew from Charlie’s embrace and rushed to the bathroom. How do I tell this Ms. Collins that I am the one who persuaded her father to rest until morning? Would he be alive today if I had risked getting him to help that night? She started crying again. I must stop this and tell her what happened. Casey flushed her face with cold water, blew her nose, and walked out the bathroom door. She walked straight in the arms of her big brother and the tears rolled again.

  “It’s okay Casey Jo. Everything will be okay. I’m here now,” the soothing timbre of David Scott’s voice said over and over to his sister as they clung to each other and cried.

  “Brad is dead, isn’t he David? I heard them say he was dead. They killed him.” Casey sniffled on his shoulder.

  “Yes, Casey. Brad is dead,” he affirmed. David tilted her chin upward to face him. “I promise you, sis, those men will pay. Understand?”

  Casey sniffled again, nodding her head in understanding. It was at that moment, David noticed the wound on his sister’s face.

  “My God, Casey. Who did this to you?” David demanded.

  “The man I think killed Brad. He tried to rape me, but I managed to fight him off.” She shuddered remembering her narrow escape. “He came at me with a knife. Left a mark, as you see. I conked him over the head with a skillet and got away.”

  David’s scowl transformed into a grin hearing about the skillet. “Oh, little sister, I know the way you can swing a skillet. I still carry a scar.”

  A sad smile danced on Casey’s lips as she touched the minute white scar on her brother’s forehead. “Teach you to make fun of my cupcakes.”

  Back in the kitchen, David announced his intention of taking his sister to the hospital to have her wound checked out. Casey protested to no avail.

  “You at least need a round of antibiotics,” he argued. “When I get you back home, we will see a plastic surgeon. Guys don’t dig scars as much as girls do, you know.”

  “Beast.” Casey retorted.

  “Travers, how about a debriefing with my sister and Charlie in the morning? She needs to rest tonight.”

  “Sounds good. I think we all need a good night’s sleep.” Shane agreed. “Eight o’clock okay with you?”

  “We will be there. Can you have Charlie at the station by then?” David was uncertain of where Charlie fit into the scheme of things, or if the man knew how to drive.

  “I will have Charlie there by that time,” Bill Travers assured them. “He is going home with me tonight. We agreed to the arrangement earlier.”

  “It’s settled then. Eight o’clock sharp. Hosting department provides the doughnuts,” David told Shane.

  “You’ve got it man.” Shane and David Scott shook hands.

  Casey had a confession to make before leaving. “Ms. Collins, Lenore, I am sorry about your father.” Casey’s anguish was clear in her face and voice. “I feel responsible for his death. If I had just agreed to leave Friday night, he may still be alive. I was so afraid those men were looking for us, I didn’t want to take the chance. I cleaned his wound as best I could, it was no longer bleeding. Mr. Collins was confused when he first woke up, but he soon was alert, talking, remembering everything that happened. He was still a little unsteady on his feet. His only complaint was a headache, and a cool compress helped ease that. At least, that is what he told me.”

  Lenora Collins gazed on the woman before her. This woman had lost a partner, was almost raped, and may have an unsightly scar on her beautiful face had been through hell herself. It was this woman’s decision to stay hidden overnight, preventing her father from seeking medical care. Would my father be alive if her decision was otherwise? Or would Dad still be dead, along with Casey Scott and Charlie B? What if I had been selfish and chosen to keep Dad on the ventilator? Would he have eventually regained consciousness and have a normal life? Or, would he be just as the surgeon told us, alive but only existing; depending upon a machine to breathe for him; unable to remember his tales and unable to tell the stories to others?

  She reached out and grasped Casey’s hands. “Casey, you provided comfort for my father when he was injured, and I will be forever grateful to you for kindness. Would going home that night saved Dad’s life? Who can say? But I can say that if Dad’s only complaint was a headache that night, he would not have agreed to go to the Emergency Room. He would have swallowed a couple doses of ibuprofen, went to bed, and the outcome would still be the same. We were both faced with tough decision these last few days. But neither of us should dwell on the ifs, doing so only causes more pain and regret. One of Dad’s favorite saying was ‘if a frog had wings, he wouldn’t bump his butt.’ We made our decisions, ifs are useless.”

  “Thank you, Lenore,” was all Casey could say.

  “Go with your brother. He needs you now as much as you need him.” Leni gave the woman’s hand a final squeeze. “Make sure the men don’t hog all of the maple frosted doughnuts in the morning. They are the best.”

  Charlie watched the car drive away before packing his duffle bag. Bill Travers stepped next door to tell the neighbor that Charlie is safe and will be staying with him a few days. Shane wiped a stray tear off his friend’s face. Leni cast him a reassuring smile.

  Chapter 19

  Larry could think of only one solution to the problem he and Mitch faced. Run. Once the boss heard the news of the FBI being in town, things could get rough for the brothers. They had managed to build their bank of coke and smack up over time along with a good supply of pills. They would leave this burg and get a fresh start someplace else. He just had to convince Mitch which may prove difficult. Mitch loved the horses he cared for and the women who rode them. Larry had no doubt Mitch would eventually come around to his older brother’s way of thinking. Hell, they will soon be able to buy horses of their own. Mitch can buy all the women he wants to. Yes, Mitch will see cutting out is the best way to go. But first, Larry had to find that woman and finish her off, and that
man who is helping her. Zach made it plain in the call this morning. No more screw ups or Larry and Mitch pays the price.

  Finding the bitch and her bodyguard is the problem. There is no way they are hiding in the house, Larry and Mitch have searched the place from top to bottom. Mitch swears he has seen a woman with blond hair watching him from the attic window; the goofball says the woman walks on the roof at night. The woman wouldn’t be that stupid. Today, we find the woman and finish her and her friend off. The plan is to search the place on 4-wheelers, trying to flush the couple from their hiding place. If the brothers can’t find the couple with that method, tonight they set fire to the old house and shoot the woman as she makes a run for it. The man, too, if he is there.

  Larry and Mitch Canner spent Monday walking and riding the land at Twin Maples. Where the four feet of the horses and four wheels the ATVs could not take them, the brothers walked. They searched the old house before searching outside and again after the futile ground search. Nothing. Mitch, always the hopeless romantic, suggested there were secret rooms and passages, like in the horror films.

  “Well, if there are secret rooms and passages, the fire will soon find those places and whoever might be in them,” Larry declared in harsh voice, made more so by the sheer exhaustion of the day long search.

  Upstairs and downstairs, they doused the interior of the house with gasoline. A good arson inspector will know the fire was deliberately set, but Larry and Mitch would be long gone. After this morning’s call from Zach, Larry convinced his brother it was time to move one. The heat of this fire will be nothing compared to the heat coming down on the brothers from above, even if they did not find that woman.

  It didn’t take long for the flames to engulf the house, its faded wallpaper, decorative woodwork, wall, and floors, dried over the years fed the fury of the rapidly spreading fire. Mitch drove circles around the burning house expecting the woman at least to come rushing out the door.

  “Larry, if that woman is in there, she is dead by now.” Mitch grinned. “We did good, big brother.”

  “And if the fire department don’t find a set of bones in the ashes, then what Mitch?” Larry asked. “We still need to get as far away from here as possible. Tonight, after Zach leaves, we pack our stash and high-tail it out of here.”

  “Why did he bother about coming down here at all?” Mitch grumbled. “Doesn’t he think we can get a job done right?”

  Larry could only stare at his brother. Mitch had botched disposing of the body and Larry had let the man’s girlfriend get away. Mitch had been lazy, and Larry lusted after the agent’s woman. Larry hated that Zach Felton was waiting for them, waiting to hear the woman is now dead. But Larry could not blame the man.

  Zach Felton hired Larry Canner eight years ago and had no cause to regret that decision until Larry insisted his little brother Mitch come into the fold. Mitch was just too damn impulsive to trust, Zach realized. Not to mention, the man can’t keep his hands or anything else to himself were women are concerned. To give the boy his credit, women who frequented the ranch found the young man irresistible. This time, he could not dismiss the kid’s laid-back attitude toward any work not involving horses and women. If left alone, Zach and the brothers could work through this little storm, but Luis is calling the shots this time. Damn, I hate this. Not only am I going to have to build a new barn but find capable men who can double as stable hands and shipment handlers. It was with no little trepidation that Zach dreaded the men’s return.

  The loud and obnoxious noise of four-wheelers followed by Mitch’s boisterous laughter announced the brothers’ arrival. Mitch burst into the apartment over the stables, closely followed by Larry. The boy’s excitement sank when he saw Zach sitting in an easy chair, two of his associates standing close by.

  “Well, has our problem been solved?” Zach inquired.

  “Sure, Zach,” came Mitch’s cocky replied. “There ain’t no way that bitch survived the fire. You should have seen it. You should have brought some hotdogs and we could have had a wiener roast. Get it?” Mitch’s up roaring guffawing evidence he considered the remark both clever and family.

  “So, the man was in the house also?” Zach directed this question to Larry, his eyes grabbing the gaze of the man and holding it.

  “Whoever was in that house is dead, Zach,” Larry said firmly.

  “You are positive that both the man and the woman were in the house?” Zach interrogated.

  “We searched the place inside and outside twice and found no one. The house may have had secret rooms and passages we did not have time to look for, so we torched the old place.” Larry could not guarantee the old house had secret rooms, but Zach seemed to buy the idea.

  “Good.” Zach congratulated the men, watching as they visibly relaxed. “Now that’s taken care of, I have a few concerns in the stable we need to talk about.”

  “What’s wrong in the stables, Zach?” Larry worried. “You’ve never complained before?”

  “Who said I am complaining, Larry?” Zach laughed, giving the man a good-natured slap to the shoulder. “Let’s go on down there.”

  Zach went ahead of the brothers down the stairs, the other two men stayed put, and the tension in Larry’s jaw muscles relaxed. Zach never conducted syndicate business without at least two of his ‘associates’ with him. Mitch and he will be okay, for now.

  Zach led Larry and Mitch through the stables making inquiries about needed improvements. He was considering buying a few more horses, Zach told them. Can the interior of the stables be reconfigured to hold more stock? Would it be better to expand the building?

  Mitch knew Zach didn’t want his opinion, only Larry’s, so why pretend to be interested. Larry will fill him in later. Instead, Mitch informed Zach and Larry he wanted to start on the evening chores and left them alone. One of the horses was acting skittish, whinnying, shaking its head, and pawing on the straw strewn floor. Mitch always felt sorry for this horse, Jasper. Imagine living this close to these mares and being a gelding. How fair was that?

  “Jasper, what has you in such a fidget tonight?” Mitch softly crooned to the horse. He loved horses, always had, and when Larry and he got a place of their own, he was going to have a few horses. Of course, he probably couldn’t afford any as expensive as these thoroughbreds.

  When Jasper continued to fidget, Mitch entered the stall to investigate. The gelding was fine this morning when they turned the horses out to pasture, and he hadn’t noticed any problems with the horse this afternoon when him and Larry stabled Jasper and the mares before setting the old house on fire.

  “Jasper, old buddy, what’s twisting your tail tonight?” Mitch continued a steady one-side conversation while examining the horse. He was lifting the last hoof and Jasper panicked, kicking at Mitch.

  “What the hell, Jasper?” Mitch snapped as he jumped out of the way. This behavior was out of character with the gelding. Jasper must have an injury to that left rear leg, and Mitch probably irritated it. He soothed the horse with gentle words and stroking, he knelt to examine the hoof without touching the horse. Sure enough, Mitch saw a bruise. He straightened, but before he could turn and exit the stall, an arm encircled his neck in a vice like grip. A quick twist of the neck and Mitch crumpled to the floor. The attacker led the horse out of the stall sending it out into the dark pasture where Jasper joined the mares.

  Larry faced Zach’s associate. This is the reason the two associates upstairs stayed put; there were others in the stable. This one was standing next to the brothers’ retirement fund. He realized denying any knowledge of the stash was useless. He knew better than to try to bargain with Zach. Larry only hoped his younger brother died quick and that his own death would not be too slow. He felt the first prick of the knife that sliced his throat.

  Larry and Mitch, both smokers, never allowed smoking around the horses. No smoking in the coral, in the stables, on the trail rides, or even in their upstairs apartment. Zach, a non-smoker, appreciated the smoke free envi
ronment himself, but knew the brothers’ only concern had been for the horses. The two brothers were now beyond caring about the effect of second-hand smoke on the thoroughbreds, and their nasty habit came in handy as a cause of the fire flickering in one of the stables. Zach placed a cigarette dipped in gasoline between two of Mitch’s fingers, and being a gentleman, he lit the cigarette for the stable mucker.

  ***

  Two crews of the Hylton Fire Department were fighting the towering inferno on Twin Maples when the call came through dispatching firemen to Maple Bluffs. Fire departments from the county responded to the scene to aid HFD. HPD and the Sheriff’s department did crowd control. It was easy given, all the excitement, to miss the sound of the outboard motors on the river not far away.

  Chapter 20

  Tuesday, April 25, 2017

  “Hylton Fire Department battled two fires last night near the Maple Acres subdivision. Firefighters responded to a call of fire at the abandoned house on the old Twin Maples plantation. The structure was fully engulfed when HPD arrived, too late to save the historic home. Firefighters contained the fire and remained on the scene until early this morning. Arson is suspected in the Twin Maples fire, and arson investigators are on scene now.”

  “While two platoons of firefighters were battling the Twin Maples’ blaze, 911 dispatch received a report of a second structure fire in the area, on the neighboring property, Maple Bluff. The structure, owned by the Felton Company from Cincinnati, housed thoroughbreds, and a loft apartment occupied by stable staff. According to a spokesperson with the fire department, several units from surrounding areas responded to the Maple Bluff fire to aid HFD. Upon arrival at the fire, firefighters reported seeing horse in the corral. The fire, fueled by the hay stored within, resulted in considerable damage to the stables. The cause of this fire is under investigation,” the WWYT reported concluded.

  The newscaster exchanged comments with the reporter about the efforts of all fire departments involved before he announced the next segment of the news. “The weather is up next,” he announced. “I hope you are going to promise us another beautiful day, Shelly.”