“I guess.” Ollie fiddled with the pillow on the couch next to him.
Ann smiled. “I know you don’t like Drew, but that boy got a raw deal growing up. I think all of the Duncan kids did and they each showed signs of it. Drew was always angry. Kelli accepted it. And Ashley…”
“Ashley’s fine,” Ollie snapped. “There’s nothing wrong with her.”
Whoa, touched a nerve there.
“I think Ashley is wonderful,” Ann said. “But she’s always been a little… Well, she’s probably has her own set of issues. But you should talk to her about that.”
Ollie had talked to Ashley about it. Or at least tried to, but except for last night or the occasional slip, she didn’t want to talk about it.
“You don’t like the fact he’s back because you still see him as that angry kid. But he’s had a few years to grow up. And so have you.”
Ollie groaned. “Sounds like what Sam said to me. She met up with him last night. They talked. She didn’t really tell me about the details, but whatever it is, he’s got her convinced he’s not the bully he was in school. And that he had nothing to do with the disappearance of Molly Winters.”
Ann snorted. “I could have told her that.”
Ollie’s eyes went wide. “What? He was the prime suspect.”
“He was the only suspect,” Ann corrected. “And by choice. They never looked anywhere else. When I came in, that was one of the cases I reviewed. I’m one of the reasons Drew was let out of prison.”
“You were?” Ollie was stunned and more than a little annoyed. “Why?”
Ann sat up, going into sheriff mode. “There was zero evidence. In fact, there was less evidence than there should have been. Drew was found overdosed on something, but the medical report had gone missing. I checked and there was no evidence he was a habitual drug user. What had he taken? And where did the report go? We had a timeline, of sorts. We know when people last saw her and when he was found. Wasn’t a huge gap. Only an hour between when Molly was last seen and when Drew was found. It’s very possible that medical report would have shown he was incapacitated during that window. They found blood that belonged to Molly in the school, but Drew left and nobody saw him return. It took weeks to get back the report that it was her blood. The thing is, there was no blood found on Drew. No defensive wounds either.”
Ollie rubbed his chin as he listened. “Why did they charge him in the first place? Why was he held for trial? If there was really that little evidence, couldn’t the public defender get him released?”
“I don’t know,” Ann said. “The Winter’s family was, and still is close to the Brooks. Brooks was Mayor at the time. He had plenty of pull with the DA, Steven Mills. He didn’t have any answers. I got them to drop the charges. I was brought in to clean up this town. Appointed by the Governor of New York. That started with looking at some of the more unusual cases. I’m just sorry I wasn’t ever able to nab the real killer.”
When Drew came home, both he and the General were quiet. Ashley asked what happened and Drew simply said, “He’s not coming.”
He didn’t elaborate and she didn’t ask him to.
Cole did his best to avoid being alone with his uncle and his uncle seemed preoccupied most of the night. He was angry. Cole knew when someone was angry and his uncle was supremely pissed, which made him dangerous. He kept waiting for the explosion, but it never came.
At one point, Lilly tried lightening the mood by talking about how his mother and Aunt Ash dragged Uncle Drew with them to her house and they all decided to play dress up and made him wear girl clothes. The three of them made him look so silly and his uncle just sat there and looked miserable.
He expected his Uncle to flip out, yelling at them for embarrassing him. Instead, he’d sneered at his sister and said, “You put me in pink. It’s not my color.”
Cole had a hard time not smiling a little.
A little later, Aunt Ashley went over the funeral arrangements she and he had made. Uncle Drew listened, nodded and hadn’t objected until she got to the point of explaining there wouldn’t be a wake.
“Really?” Drew said. “I thought we’d have a small one. She had friends.”
Aunt Ash looked towards Cole for a brief moment. “We talked about it and decided against a wake. Kelli hasn’t been in town for nearly a decade, Drew. And she hated a fuss. It would draw a lot of lookie loos. Cole doesn’t know these people. We can invite a few people back here afterwards. We don’t need a fuss.”
Cole didn’t think Drew agreed with their choice and he was about to say it was okay to have a wake, when his uncle nodded. “If that’s what you decided, then it’s fine.”
His tone told Cole he considered the matter settled.
Later on, while cleaning up, Cole accidently knocked a glass of water down and it had spilt across the table, into his uncle’s lap. Aunt Ash thought it was funny because it looked like Drew wet his pants.
Cole nearly wet his waiting for his uncle to punch him.
But he hadn’t. He just smirked and said, “You got me good, kid.”
He sat in the living room with a book while the others talked, straining to hear each and every word. His mouth went dry when Aunt Ash started to look through her purse. “I could have sworn I had a five in here.”
He waited, but she shrugged and finished what she was doing. Slowly, he relaxed. Until he looked up and saw his uncle watching him.
“Good book?” Uncle Drew asked.
Cole nodded. His eyes scanned the page and relief came when he saw that this time, he was holding the book the right way.
“It’s getting late, Cole,” Aunt Ash said. “Why don’t you get ready for bed?”
He nodded, closed the book and said his goodnights to everyone.
Once upstairs, he quickly got changed for bed, brushed his teeth and waited. He knew either Lilly, or more likely Aunt Ash would come upstairs to see him one last time.
He heard the footsteps on the stairs, knew they were wrong. Too loud, too heavy. His body tensed and he was ready to run the moment his uncle appeared at the door.
“I’m just coming up to talk,” Drew said. “You can relax.”
Cole managed to shrug like he didn’t care. The fact was, he wanted to scream his lungs out.
Drew entered the room, pulled the chair closer to the bed and straddled it. He paused to try and decide the best way to handle the kid. He decided straight out honesty was the way to go.
“I’m very angry,” Drew said. He saw Cole stiffen.
“I didn’t do shit,” Cole said. He knew it was a mistake to talk back.
“I know,” Drew said. “I’m not angry with you. You lost a mother, I lost a sister. One I never had the chance to make things right with. So I’m angry at that. And then I went to see my own father today.”
“I don’t want to see him,” Cole snapped. “He’s nothing to me.”
Drew nodded. “He’s less than nothing to you. I was supposed to go there to see if he wanted to meet you. He didn’t, but it wouldn’t matter. I made it clear he’s not to come close to you. I made that choice for you. I hope that’s okay.”
Cole shrugged. “Mom told me about him. He was an ass.”
Drew smiled. “I doubt Kelli used those words. You’ve got a mouth on you kid, and I know you didn’t get it from her. Maybe it’s just a sign there’s some of me in you. And almost everyone on this planet has been an ass now and then. My father was far worse.”
Cole looked straight ahead, stared at a picture on his wall of a spaceship. “I don’t give a shit about him.” It was the truth.
“Good,” Drew said. “I remember what things were like growing up. My dad being angry meant trouble. Big trouble. Cole, I can’t promise you’re never going to see me angry, and I’m sure there’ll be times when I’m downright pissed off at you. I won’t hit you. I’m not going to hurt you because I’m angry. I might yell at you and call you a few well deserved names like numbskull or something, but I won’t send y
ou flying across the room because you spilled a glass of water on me.”
Cole’s eyes shifted back to Drew.
“Yeah, I saw the look on your face. You were expecting to be hit for that.”
Drew had seen it. Seen the color drain from Cole’s face, saw him tremble.
“You don’t know shit about me,” Cole said. “You act like you know me, but you’re an ass. I’m nothing like you.”
When Drew stood, Cole scrambled away. He wished he could stop shaking. His uncle was about to beat him senseless. He wouldn’t cry out. He didn’t want to call for Aunt Ash or Lilly. His uncle would only hurt them too. He wouldn’t make that mistake again, and he didn’t want to find out that they wouldn’t come.
Oddly, although he was terrified, there was an odd sort of relief. At least he could stop wondering. Stop waiting. Stop hoping.
Drew moved to the foot of the bed, looked down at his nephew and sighed. He knelt down and reached under the bed.
“What are you doing?” Cole asked, his voice cracking.
Drew’s hand found the backpack, pulled it out, and tossed it on the bed. Cole’s eyes went wide, but never left Drew’s. Walking back to the chair, he sat, scooting closer to the bed.
“Your Aunt is missing a five,” Drew said. “I noticed the change from dinner last night disappeared. How much you got in there?”
Cole didn’t answer. When his uncle reached out, a small cry escaped, but the only thing Uncle Drew grabbed was the bag. He unzipped the pocket where the money was, took it out and counted it. “Fifty three dollars? Kid, how far do you think this is going to get you?”
“Far enough,” Cole said.
Drew laughed.
“How did you know?” Cole said. “When did you know?” There seemed to be little reason to lie now.
“I watch too,” Drew said. “I’m just better at it than you. When I came up the stairs before, you knew it was me, right? I sound different coming up than Ashley or Lilly, don’t I?”
Cole considered telling him to go to hell, but wanted to see where his uncle was going. “Yeah.”
“I can move up the stairs without you hearing me,” Drew explained. “I saw you snatch the five. I was waiting for it. I wasn’t surprised you had this ready. You planning on going, or is this just an ‘in case I need it’ bag?”
Cole grabbed the bag, held it tightly.
“Cole, I’ve played it straight with you. Talk to me. Please.”
Cole was shaking, but he listened. So far, his uncle had played it straight. He’d taken him to see his mother, when nobody else had.
“If he comes for me,” Cole said. “I won’t go. And I won’t let Aunt Ash or Lilly get hurt trying to protect me.”
Drew nodded. “I get that. Is that what you think happened?”
“He’s still locked up,” Cole said. “For now.”
For now was right. The charges against him weren’t enough to keep him put away. “I’m not going to let him near you. Or Aunt Ash or Lilly. I’m here and I’ll protect you.”
“Bullshit,” Cole said. “You don’t give a shit.”
“Yes I do,” Drew said. “I’m going to move. Don’t panic, I’m not going to hit you.”
Cole didn’t answer. Drew reached into his back pocket, pulled out a wallet. Going inside, he pulled out a wad of cash. It was all twenty’s. He held it up for Cole to see. “This is three hundred.” He took the bag back from Cole, shoved it in the front pocket where the other fifty-three dollars was. “That will help. Do you have a cell phone?”
The question took a moment to register with Cole, but when it did, he shook his head. “I’ll get you one. We’ll program it with numbers. You feel the need to run, you can run. I’ll find you because you won’t be running from me. You need help, I’ll make sure there’s help on the other side of that phone.” He held up the bag. “You’re not going to need this. But if it makes you feel better to have it, you can keep it. No more stealing from your aunt or Lilly. Understand?”
Confused, Cole nodded. “You’re letting me keep that money?”
“Consider it a loan, kid,” Drew said. “I know what it feels like to want to run, and to think running will help protect people you care about. It didn’t work out so well for me. You may want to keep that in mind.”
While his uncle stowed his backpack under the bed again, Cole thought about that.
Drew moved back to the chair. “Now, you were looking at me weird when you got up this morning. What’s up?”
Cole nearly started to shake his head and say nothing, but found himself telling his uncle what had been bothering him. “You used to pick on Ollie.”
Drew’s eyes narrowed. “I used to…? Where did you…?” He looked towards the window. “Damn kid, you hear everything, don’t you?”
Cole didn’t laugh.
Drew stood up and paced a bit. He needed to deal with this. He needed this kid to learn to trust him and he wasn’t going to get that with Ollie and Ashley talking smack about him. It didn’t help that they had the truth on their side. He looked at Cole, and he could tell the kid was waiting to be fed a line of bullshit. He was ready to be lied to.
“Budge over,” Drew said. He moved the chair off to the side and slid on the bed next to Cole. He managed to do so without having the kid cower away. Drew leaned back, forced himself to relax and waited for Cole to do the same. Or at least come as close to a state of relaxation as he was capable of.
“Yeah,” Drew admitted. “I was an ass. I told you earlier anyone can be one. I’m not going to make excuses. Ollie didn’t deserve what I did. I was a pissed off kid and instead of talking to someone or learning to control it, I used him because he was there. It didn’t help that he was always there.”
Cole found himself nodding, the panic fading. “He likes Aunt Ash. I guess he did back then too.”
Drew laughed. “Yeah, he sure did. Keep that between you and I, I don’t think she’s caught on yet.”
Cole laughed. “Yeah.”
“You’re a smart kid,” Drew said. “Smarter than I was at your age.”
Cole shifted. “I wasn’t smart enough to save Mom.”
Drew put his arm around Cole, hoped he wasn’t pushing his luck and was pleased he didn’t pull away. “You didn’t fail your mom. If anyone did, it was me. And I’m sorry. But I swear, I won’t fail you.”
Cole leaned against his uncle. “I like Ollie. He was nice to me and he told me it was his job to protect people. He promised if I called him, he’d come.”
“And you’re afraid if I’m here he won’t come?” Drew said. “I don’t think you have to worry about that. He’s solid. The man’s hung around my sister since we were kids, so that qualifies him as a saint.”
That earned a snicker. “She gives him a hard time too. Not as bad as she gives it to you. But he mostly finds it funny.”
They both laughed.
“I’ll find a way to square things with Ollie,” Drew said. “You have my word.”
He didn’t know why, but Cole believed him. Maybe it was just that he wanted to, or because he needed to, but he believed his uncle. “How?”
Drew thought, shook his head. “No clue. I don’t pretend to have all the answers, Cole. But I’ll figure something out. Deal?”
Drew held his hand up in a fist. Cole smiled, made a fist himself and bumped it into Drew’s. “Deal.”
Chapter 9
Burying the Hatchet
“Sam,” Ollie called. “Wait up.”
When she arrived at the funeral, Sam directed Nana to sit far away from him. She avoided all eye contact, although she was certain he’d seen her when she’d passed by the family on the way out and hugged Drew, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
Now her partner was pushing through the crowd to get to her.
“What Ollie?”
He managed to catch up and moved in front of her. “Look, give me a minute to talk to you. Please?”
Sam glared at him. She considered walking away, but R
ose patted her arm.
“I’ll wait in the car,” Rose said. “Talk to your partner.” She passed by Ollie and smiled. “And may God have mercy on your soul.”
Ollie groaned and Sam tried not to grin.
“Talk,” Sam said. “You’ve got one minute.”
“Alright.” Ollie held his hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I was way out of line. I don’t want to lose you as a partner or as a friend.”
Sam rolled her eyes. “Okay, it’s a start. Look, Ollie, I understand how you feel.”
“No, you don’t,” Ollie said. “I look at him and I feel like I’m that same acne ridden, chubby twelve-year-old who he kept telling to get lost. He did everything he could to intimidate me. It’s not easy to let that go.”
“I know that,” Sam said. “And you should talk to him. Show him you’re not the same person you were back then. And maybe you’ll see he isn’t the same person either. But not today.”
Ollie started to rub the back of his neck.
Knowing her partner, she grabbed his hand and pulled him off to a more private location. “What did you do?”
Ollie groaned. “I went over Friday night to let them know about being able to claim the body. Before I left, I got in Drew’s face. I wanted him to understand I wasn’t the same geek who he pushed around.”
Sam closed her eyes and prayed for patience. “Let me get this straight. On the same day he found out his sister was murdered, that he saw his sister’s dead body, you decided that was a good time to have it out with him. You chose that moment to show him you weren’t the same guy he bullied when you were kids. And in doing so, you became the bully.”
She gave him a minute, let that sink in. She knew he wasn’t proud of what he’d done. “I’m going to the house now to pay my respects. Will I see you there?”
Ollie nodded. “Yeah.”
“Good,” Sam said. “Idiot.”
At the house, Cole watched people come in, give their condolences and eat food. He didn’t know most of the faces and didn’t want to talk to anyone, but knew he wasn’t supposed to hide in his room. Instead, he sat in the corner and hoped they’d all leave him alone.
Torn Away (The Torn Series Book 1) Page 12
