Traces of Guilt

by Dee Henderson

  “I can do that,” Grace said.

  “I’ll call if the time changes.”

  Evie motioned toward Gabriel’s truck, and Grace walked over to it. As Evie followed, she heard Gabriel mention, “Josh, you’ll probably find Ann and Dad at the old post-office building.”

  “I’ll find them,” Josh said.

  Evie chose the backseat in the extended cab so Grace could sit up front with Gabriel, hoping a conversation with him would break the rather cautious politeness among them.

  Gabriel settled in the driver’s seat, and Grace said, “I appreciate you doing this.”

  “It’s no problem. I’d say it’s the job, but it’s a lot more personal for us than that. All the Thanes would like to see this settled for you, Grace.”

  Grace nodded and looked out her window. They drove mostly in silence to the campground.

  What is there to say? Evie mulled over in her mind. I’m sorry your parents were murdered, it has to be hard looking for their bodies, and by the way, we know what happened to you here? There weren’t words to bridge those kinds of realities, and she didn’t think it wise to try. At least not yet. She caught Gabriel’s glance in the rearview mirror and gave him a brief shake of her head. There would be better moments than this one for a conversation over the next couple of weeks.

  Gabriel Thane

  Gabriel slowed as he read lot numbers, pulled to a stop at Lot 29. “Nice campsite, Grace. You’ve got a good view here,” he said, looking for something—anything—to say.

  Grace stepped from the truck, paused to smile back at him. “Lovely view and I like the camper. It has a microwave and a TV, shower and queen-size bed. I’ll be comfortable. Thanks for the lift, Gabriel.”

  “You’ll call if there’s anything you need, right?”

  “You know I will.”

  She raised a hand in farewell and walked to the motor home, unlocked it. Gabriel watched her step inside, waited as Evie shifted to the front seat.

  “I’ll drive the long route into town,” he said, “show you the turnoff to Will’s place when you want to pick up your dogs. That will give Josh time to hear the full story from Ann and Caleb before I bring you back to the post office.”

  “Want me to help with the shoveling?”

  Gabriel shook his head. “You’ve got two cases to pursue during this working vacation of yours. The only thing left to do on the Dayton case is to find the burial site, and it’s likely where Josh is looking. It’s going to be many hours patiently waiting for the dogs to indicate something, digging up animal remains to clear those flags, before we find the little girl’s body. We’ll get it done, but there’s no use in taking up your time on the search here when there’s another case needing your focus.”

  He glanced over, saw a look he couldn’t interpret. “Feeling left out of the action?”

  “No. Nothing like that. Just struggling to get back momentum for what I was working on yesterday.”

  “Ann’s bombshell still has aftershocks, and it’s going to take more than a few days to absorb them,” Gabriel agreed. He thought about yesterday, the sense of breakthrough he’d felt when Evie posited the idea that Scott and Susan had been seeing a marriage counselor, the sense that finally some progress was being made on the case.

  “Evie, you need to know that for this community, the Florist case is even more significant than the Dayton one. A family disappears, a deputy . . . besides their relatives, no one in Carin County would be more pleased to see it resolved than the cops who work here. You’d be doing us a big favor to stay focused on it. You’d be doing me that favor.”

  She offered a small smile. “I understand. Thanks. Want to come by the post office for a while?”

  “I’d like to, but Dad and I need to talk, and Will needs to hear from me what’s going on. While Grace is in the area, it’s going to be a Thane family matter. Anything you need from me?”

  “Not at present. Keep in mind lunch tomorrow, the interview with the doctor. I’d like your impressions of him.”

  Gabriel nodded. “I’ll make sure the time stays open.”

  He pointed out the turnoff for Will’s, then turned back to town through the forest where Evie had originally met up with the deer. He slowed so she could see the spot.

  “No warning he was coming, just a glimpse before the collision,” Evie said, turning to see the gash in the tree. “Makes me wonder if there haven’t been a lot of such accidents on this road.”

  “Between county deputies and the state highway patrol, we work a lot of car and animal collisions around the lake,” Gabriel said. “You want me to stop to pick up something to eat?”

  “Sure. Something I can carry in for Ann and me. That Italian place you mentioned—is spaghetti-to-go an option there?”

  “Definitely. Let’s make it for three.”

  Gabriel stopped at the restaurant, and Evie stepped out of the truck. “I’ll get the order started. It shouldn’t take long.”

  Gabriel texted Will and then called his father, learning he was on the way home. That set his plan for the next few hours. Stop at the office, confirm all was quiet there, go visit with his father, go talk to Will, then out to the farm with a shovel. He’d leave Evie out of that part, at least for now.

  Evie came back with three lunch sacks, set his in the back. Gabriel felt her look. She said, “You’re shutting me out, aren’t you?” She pulled a breadstick out of a bag, broke it in half, handed him a piece. “Too many moving parts, this one doesn’t need Evie, so start segmenting the people and figure out what needs managing next.”

  “It’s not that.” He took a bite of the breadstick. “Nice addition to the lunch, and it’s hot.”

  “I’m not complaining, Gabriel,” she said around her own bite, “just noting your body language.”

  “It’s called triage,” he said with a comfortable shrug. “Sheriffs do it all the time.”

  “Understood. Take me to the post office so I can huddle with Ann, and go do whatever’s next on your list. You can mark Evie off that list of yours. I’m good.”

  He smiled at her tone. “I might keep you on the list simply as the one not in trouble—or making trouble. You haven’t told me a joke today. I’m told you’re good at them.”

  Evie considered the request for a moment. “Okay. A guy passes a homeless man on the street, holding a sign asking for lunch money,” she began. “He stops, pulls a twenty out of his wallet, but says, ‘First, I’d like to ask you some questions. Are you going to use this twenty to buy a drink? Cigarettes? Bet on a pony?’ The homeless man replies, ‘No, sir. I gave up all those things years ago.’ The guy puts the twenty back in his wallet and says, ‘Come home with me, have a shower, I’ll find you a change of clothes, my wife will fix us a good home-cooked meal.’ Startled, the homeless man answers, ‘You’re sure, sir?’ Guy smiles, says, ‘I want my wife to meet someone who doesn’t drink, smoke, or gamble.’”

  It took a second, but then Gabriel laughed. “Going to try to improve your husband one day, Evie?”

  “I plan to marry well, so he’ll mostly be a livable type of guy right off the bat.”

  Gabriel laughed again as he came to a stop in front of the building. Evie swung out of the truck. “Stop long enough to eat, Gabriel.”

  “I will, Mom.”

  She waved and headed inside.

  He needed that light moment. He scanned the street and didn’t see Josh’s truck. Gabriel felt his smile fade, wondering where his brother may have gone. Somewhere to do some painful grieving, he suspected, before he had to get back to Grace and present a calm face. It was going to be that kind of day. He hoped he was up to doing the same.

  Gabriel parked in the front drive at his parents’ home, pocketed his keys, walked up the steps to where his father was sitting on the porch, a cigar in one hand. They appeared only in the rarest of occasions, and this one qualified. Both he and his dad had taken some hard hits over the years, but nothing like this. A child victim of horrendous abuse in t
heir midst, and they hadn’t seen it to reach out and help. He could see the shared pain in his father’s gaze.

  “Grace back at her campsite?” his dad asked.

  “Yes.”

  Caleb poured a mug of coffee from the thermos nearby, motioned for Gabriel to help himself. “Your mom went into town to speak with Ann. I’ve told her.”

  Gabriel nodded, not surprised, and took a seat on the porch with his own mug. “How did Josh take it?”

  “Went very, very quiet.”

  Gabriel nodded again. He wasn’t sure how a person processed the fact that a girl you cared deeply about had suffered so greatly. “One of us needs to update Will.”

  “I’ll go tell him,” Caleb offered. “The Thane family faces this together. However we can help Grace, we’ll do it as a unit.”

  “I think Josh will be the major one helping her.”

  “She has to let him in first. I think she does what she must, then runs as far as she can from this place.”

  “And he’s liable to follow.”

  “He’s got strong convictions. Grace is one of those, I’m thinking.”

  Gabriel sighed and stretched his legs out, thought about the week ahead. “You think the Dayton girl’s remains are out there?”

  “She’s there. As soon as Ann put up that photo, I knew she would be.” Caleb leaned over to pour more coffee. “Invite Grace to dinner tomorrow, let’s start putting comfortable friends around her. I don’t want her brooding out there, alone and back in Carin where the memories are the strongest.”

  “I’ll mention it to Josh, have him bring her this way when they’re done at the farm tomorrow.” Gabriel found his sense of time was out of kilter, had to concentrate. “Just four days ago, it was a normal November around here.”

  Caleb’s smile was sad. “Wasn’t normal—we just hadn’t seen the dark spots yet. Evie strikes me as being a good cop. She’s kind of young for the job, but that crime wall on the Florist family shows real progress in a short time, particularly given that she started out getting all banged up.”

  “Yeah, she’s got some ambition in her,” Gabe noted. “A good thing, considering what she’s tackling. I’ll be around, Dad, if something comes to mind I need to know.”

  Caleb nodded. “Get some rest later. Tomorrow’s sure to be a challenging one. For everyone.”

  Gabriel pushed to his feet, set his mug back on the small table. “No one’s out there to arrest for this terrible crime, Dad. Two beautiful little girls . . .” He shook his head. “That’s what makes it all so awfully tough. I can’t provide the justice Grace should have, needs to have. Or the Daytons . . .”

  “God can, though,” Caleb said quietly. “Let it go, Son. This isn’t yours to carry. It’s going to bust you if you try.”

  “Yeah.” Then he said again, “You’ll tell Will?”

  “I will.”

  “Ask him about Evie’s dogs too—if he’s all right with keeping them a few more days. Evie will want to have them around; they’d be a welcome distraction. But she also could benefit from a few more days just reading the files. She’s still stiff, and cautious about that back of hers.”

  “I’m sure he’s fine about having them there. You know Will and his animals.”

  Gabriel smiled. “If it’s got four legs—for that matter, two—he’ll tend it like a mother hen. I never figured out how he’s kept that trait, being as how he grew up with me.”

  “It’s why being a combat medic suited him so well. You guys tumbled over each other on everything, but if someone else tried to come at either you or Will or Josh, you suddenly became the Three Musketeers.”

  They both laughed. “Get on about the job, Gabriel,” Caleb said. “I know it’s sitting heavy today, but you’ll shift and bear up under this, we both will. Just give it time.”

  “Yeah. See you, Pop.” Gabriel laid a fist lightly on his father’s shoulder, headed back to his truck feeling lighter than when he arrived. He’d stop by his place for a shovel and get on with what had to be done.

  Joshua Thane

  Josh desperately wanted a few hours on the water. He needed the time alone, but it wasn’t going to be possible. He gathered up the necessary supplies in town, exchanged a few polite words with those he had to, and pushed down the sick feelings as best he could. There were moments in life when perceptions shattered, and his just had in a way he’d never experienced or expected.

  He’d had his idealized image of Grace, and someone had just ripped a curtain back to show what he hadn’t seen all those years ago. He mostly wanted to wrap her up in a hug and cry with her, and if that emotion didn’t spill over today, he’d be a fortunate man.

  Grace wouldn’t want it known, surely wouldn’t want him to know the truth. Ann had told him only because the cop in her had to alert him to the likelihood that there were other remains out there. He’d searched in this kind of situation with Ann before. He knew that look on her face, the tone in her voice. Ann figured there was a better than even chance his dogs could find the Dayton girl’s remains on the farm.

  Grace had lived with what had happened to her on that farm for decades now. He’d lived with it for a couple of hours. The best thing he could do was give it time. Without even knowing it, he’d let down a friend, for she’d been that and more to him. He hadn’t known she needed help, hadn’t been alert enough to catch the signals, and that was going to take some time to grieve and accept. He wasn’t going to let her down again if he could possibly help it.

  He understood the sad eyes now, but he wasn’t going to let her sorrow push him away. She was too important to him to let that darkness stain what he remembered of her. But for the time being he’d have to deal with staying quiet, calm, matter-of-fact, the friend she needed.

  He collected his dogs at the house, drove the short distance to the campground, glad Grace was nearby rather than in town. Word would get out eventually that she was back, and he’d do what he could to downplay it as anything more than a short return to visit Carin.

  Grace must have seen his truck coming. When he pulled in, she was waiting for him with cooler in hand. He pulled in a deep breath and disciplined his expression. He could do this. He would do this.

  He smiled as he stepped from the truck. “You’re a timely one, Grace. I think that was true of you back in school too.”

  She approached the truck. “Being late, unless someone is bleeding, is just plain rude.”

  His smile faltered. Her uncle used to say that. Thankfully she didn’t see his reaction as she climbed in on the passenger side. Okay, not so controlled as I thought. He’d do well to avoid anything that brought up memories of the past. “You may remember my dogs’ father. These two boys are Duke and Slim.”

  They both were looking at her through the back window. She laughed and greeted them by name. “They’re wonderful.”

  “They travel everywhere together, always curious about what the other has found to do. They love a belly rub, and they’ll lick you to death if you let them.”

  Josh settled on the driver’s side after finding a place for the cooler. “I’m going to take a few minutes to go hook up a small camper I take out to the field. It’s parked at the other end of the campground. If the dogs need a break, or a rain shower comes in, I’ve got shelter at hand.” And it removes the need to have to go into that farmhouse.

  As they drove up to the camper, Grace asked, “Anything I can do to help?”

  “After I get the truck lined up, you can take the driver’s seat, tap the brake, test the turn signals so I can check them once I’ve got everything hitched together.”

  “I can do that.”

  He expertly backed in. They both stepped out, and he turned the crank to lift the wheel and settle the camper onto the truck’s hitch.

  “You must camp a lot,” she observed.

  “I live on the lake, make my living from it, so I try to camp around it when I’ve got a few free days. Makes me better appreciate the experience tourists come he
re to find.” He flashed her a quick grin. “It helps that the bugs don’t bother me.”

  “You’re lucky. They love me.”

  “Which reminds me. Sunscreen and bug spray are in the backpack behind the seat. You’ll want to make use of both.” He connected the wire plug from the truck to the camper. “Okay, let’s check the lights and we’ll be ready to go.”

  “That easy?”

  He nodded and walked to the back. “I’m a man who keeps things simple,” he called as she settled behind the wheel. “I park it with everything locked down, all set to go out again.”

  The lights worked fine. Josh tossed aside the wood blocks he used to anchor the wheels, took the driver’s seat again, and eased the camper out. “We’re good to go, Grace. Find us a radio station you like, then tell me something fun you did in Chicago last year. I’m guessing there isn’t much grass and trees for camping up there.”

  “Nope, all this green is wonderful.” She reached to the radio.

  He’d be asking a lot of questions about Chicago during the hours they walked. Besides it being a safe topic, he wanted to find out about the life she’d carved out for herself there. He needed to understand who Grace was today, and he figured they had a hundred hours or better of conversation ahead of them. He’d start with an easy topic, see what pieces he could discover to fill in a new picture of her.

  Josh let his dogs roam the farmhouse yard, stretch their legs after the ride in the truck, get settled into the general scents of the place before he called them over. “Grace, you’ll want to watch for uneven ground—moles have been at work out here,” he told her, feeling the surface soft under his boots.

  “I will.” She had on decent tennis shoes, jeans, and she’d worn layers with the jacket so she could adjust to the day’s temperatures. He’d find her a pair of boots for tomorrow to better protect against the harsh terrain.

  She’d requested something of him, and finding the location of her parents’ remains would most likely involve spotting land that had settled around the graves, rather than the dogs picking up the scent. But he didn’t bother explaining that to her. He’d had enough experience to know what to look for.