A Long Way Home

by Wendy Vella

“D-do they know about me?”

  “Yes. What trouble are you in, Hope?”

  She told him then, the entire story, starting with Jay’s betrayal. Her voice stumbled a few times, but she kept going, finishing with details about the governor and Mr. Linear.

  “I know that Linear bastard,” the deep voice said down the line. “He couldn’t lie straight in bed.”

  “I just wondered if you had any advice for me?”

  “Don’t say anything until I get there.”

  “What? You can’t come here. I just thought you’d give me advice or something.”

  “I will give you advice, but it will be in person.”

  He disconnected the phone before Hope could speak again.

  “I’m not sure I want to see him, and what if Mom gets upset?”

  “Wasn’t she the one who gave you the card?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then she must know you’ll contact him at some stage.” Newman slipped his hand under the heavy fall of her hair, and stroked her neck.

  “Sure, but not that he’ll come here.”

  “I’ll talk to her.”

  She nodded, but sat silently resting against him.

  “FYI, I still want to be with you, even if you are a criminal.”

  “What? No, you don’t.”

  “I do, Hope. I’ve felt empty inside since you lost the baby and wanted me to go away. I don’t like feeling that way. I like how I feel when I’m with you. You make me stronger.”

  She turned to look up at him.

  “You’re already strong.”

  “Not really, I just put on a good act.”

  She smiled.

  “I-I felt empty inside too. I don’t know how that’s possible, because we never met the baby, or even had a chance to adjust to the thought of parenthood.”

  “It was our baby, Hope.” He touched her cheek. “We’re allowed to grieve its passing.”

  She nodded, and then Newman pulled her close and for the first time, he really allowed himself to grieve for the child they’d lost, with the woman who understood, because she was hurting too.

  “Newman?” She said the words into his chest.

  “Mmm.”

  “I’m not big on sharing emotions, but I’m going to say it because I believe it’s important we be honest with each other.”

  “By all means, be honest.” Newman stroked his fingers down her hair. It felt like silk.

  “You were the first person I thought of when Cubby came to get me, which should mean something, right?”

  “It means you realize what a catch I truly am.”

  Her laugh was more a tired sigh, so he continued to stroke her hair. Slowly her body grew lax until he was sure she was sleeping. Easing them both sideways on the narrow cot until they lay on the pillow, he pulled her back to his front, and closed his eyes. Peace settled over him for the first time in days. Hell was about to rain down on her, but he’d face it too, and make sure she knew he was there for her. For now, he wanted to hold her for however long he could.

  “They look cute though, don’t you think?”

  “This is not a hotel room, Macy, it’s a jail cell.”

  Newman woke to a conversation going on outside the cell, but chose to keep his eyes closed and hold Hope a while longer.

  “I know, but look at them. All snuggled up. He’s protecting her, Cubby, even in his sleep.”

  “He really is.” Newman identified that voice as Katie McBride’s.

  “Someone snap a picture. It’ll piss him off, and we’ll put it up on the Howling Facebook page that Walt and Lizzie have just started.” That was Buster.

  “Wake them now, we have business to discuss.” Cubby sighed. “But okay, they do look cute. Nice to see him undone, don’t you think? All weak and pathetic over a woman.”

  “I’ve never been weak and pathetic, and I’ll make you retract that statement when I get out of here.” Newman opened his eyes. Hope woke too, stretching. When she was done, he sat them both upright.

  “You have the keys, pretty boy.”

  “I do. Now tell me why the hell you’re all lined up outside the cell. Unless you’re shooting an episode of The Truman Show , you can piss off.”

  “We need to let you know where we’re at on the investigation, and I have food,” Buster said, nudging the others aside to hand coffee through the bars.

  “Anyone else here?” Newman said, lifting Hope from between his legs to sit beside him. He rose and took the coffee, handing her a cup.

  “Both Linears are at the Wildlife base. The governor has gone back to Brook, no doubt to start making more problems for me,” Cubby said.

  “I’m so sorry, Cubby, for bringing you so much trouble,” Hope said.

  “Don’t be. Those assholes annoyed me, and it felt good to return the favor.”

  “So what do we do now?” Newman said.

  “I believe that may be where I come in.”

  The words were deep and authoritative, and the man they belonged to was equally as impressive. Newman took him for about six foot, as he was close to Cubby’s height. He wore designer trousers and a shirt. No tie or jacket, but his clothes were expensive, as were the leather shoes on his large feet. Militant led him forward.

  “This is your father, Hope.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  Hope looked at the man her mother had just introduced to her as her father, and tried to see anything familiar. Ryan had his features, she realized, and she had his eyes.

  “Hello, Hope.”

  “How did you get here so fast?” Hope asked, because she really couldn’t think of anything else right then and there. Strange, considering she’d spent her life coming up with plenty of things she wanted to say to him.

  “I only live an hour’s flight away. I had a friend fly me in by helicopter.”

  She nodded, because she wasn’t sure what to call him. Daddy wasn’t an option. Getting to her feet, she went to stand beside Newman. He rested a supporting hand on her spine. It felt good. He gave her strength, she realized. Gave her the courage to be a better person. She had to tell him something, and she had to do it now.

  “Just give us a minute please.” Hope held up a finger. She then took Newman’s hand and led him to the back of the cell. Standing on her toes, she tugged his head down and whispered into his ear, “I want you to know that I care about you, Newman.”

  The smile he gave her was blinding.

  “I—ah, just needed to tell you that.”

  He crooked his finger, and she leaned in.

  “I care about you too, sweetheart.”

  “Really?”

  “Totally.”

  “Wow, that’s cool.”

  “Isn’t it, though.”

  “Don’t mind us, really, we have all day,” Cubby drawled.

  Newman took her hand and led her back to the bars, and Hope held it tight. He anchored her, and she needed that now.

  “You planning on staying in there, bud?”

  “For now,” he said to Buster.

  “Can I suggest you people leave, and let Millicent and me into the cell, so we can talk,” her father said.

  “What’s your name?” Buster asked him.

  “Jacob Robertson.”

  “All right, Jacob, we can do that.”

  “Any chance that as I’m sheriff, I make the calls?”

  “Nope,” everyone said as they filed out.

  Hope nodded, and Newman unlocked the cell, and in came her parents. It felt strange to think the words “parents,” when usually it was just parent for her and Ryan.

  “So I’m guessing you don’t want a hug?”

  Hope shook her head and took a step closer to her mother. He saw the gesture for what it was, a declaration of solidarity.

  “And you are?” Her father looked at Newman.

  “Hope’s partner, Paul Newman.” He held out his hand and her father shook it.

  “Perhaps we should clear the air before we begin?”r />
  Newman stood to one side silently. A reassuring presence, in her corner if she needed him.

  “I cheated on your mother, Hope,” Jacob began, “and the result was that I never saw you or Ryan grow up, because I believed that was what I wanted. For a while I was able to live my life as I chose, and then I met my wife, Sylvia, and we had children, and it was then I realized what I had given up.”

  She hadn’t known he’d cheated on her mother. Millicent had kept that quiet.

  “As you know, I tried to have contact with you, but neither you nor Ryan wished for that.”

  Hope nodded.

  “You look like my youngest daughter.”

  She wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

  “Maybe we can do this other stuff later,” Newman said. “Right now, we need to work out what to do about Hope’s situation.”

  “Because I really don’t want to go to prison,” Hope added.

  Her father nodded. They talked, and she realized he was what her mother had said, an excellent criminal lawyer.

  When Cubby came in, it was to get Newman.

  “I need him for something, Hope. I’ll bring him back soon, okay?”

  “It’s all right.” Newman kissed her softly. “Your parents are here watching over you now, sweetheart, and I’ll be back soon.”

  “Okay.” She let his hand go reluctantly and watched him leave, hating that his solid presence was no longer at her side.

  “Brodie Finlay just called in. He and his brothers were up on North Ridge doing some tracking. They stopped to eat, and he was looking through that high-powered scope of his, and saw someone matching that limp dick Jay Herald climbing down the cliff out at Tiger Point this morning,” Cubby said when he, Buster, Tex, and Newman were in his office with the door closed so the state trooper couldn’t hear them.

  “Yeah. He carrying anything?”

  “A big, fuck off backpack, according to Brodie.”

  “Not a crime,” Buster said.

  “No, but carrying a shotgun down there is. That’s reserve land, no shooting or weapons.”

  “How does Brodie know what Jay Herald looks like?”

  “He’d hauled in a load of firewood for those, and I quote, ‘whining tree huggers.’”

  “Fire? It’s summer?”

  “My girl’s in trouble, so let’s try and stay focused,” Newman said when Buster opened his mouth.

  Tex smiled. “You make a great couple.”

  “Of course your approval is all I was seeking.”

  “Tiger Point is like a day’s hike in,” Cubby interrupted them. “So that would mean he would have been hiking in the dark. Sounds to me like he’s a keen hiker or he didn’t want anyone seeing him. Plus, a shotgun was used on the night of the robbery. Layla Miller saw it, because it was pointed at her, then used to knock her to the floor.”

  “If he’s behind this, I’m doing him some damage before you haul him in, Cub. The man’s made Hope’s life hell.”

  “We need to nail him first, Newman. Gear up, and we’ll head out in five.”

  Newman went to see Hope, to explain he would be away for a while. Her parents were still in the cell with her. The Lawrence women sat on the bed. Hope’s father paced.

  “Hope.”

  She got off the bed and came to the bars. He reached through and took her hands.

  “I have to go with Cubby for a while. Your parents will watch you, and Belle and Willow will come soon with food for you.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Cubby wants me to check out some stuff with him, Buster, and Tex.”

  “What stuff? Is it dangerous?”

  “You worried about me?”

  She nodded, face serious.

  “I’m okay, I promise. Cub just has a lead that needs following, and he wants to leave his deputies here to watch the town and you.”

  “No risks, Newman.”

  “We’ll get you out of here, Hope.”

  “B-but if we don’t—”

  “Firstly,” he pressed his hand over her mouth, “I’m not leaving you so don’t ask me, and secondly, if all else fails we’ll run. Maybe we’ll catch a flight somewhere. Tex will take us in one of his family jets.”

  She leaned in.

  “Is this love?”

  “Think it could be.” He touched her cheek. “Ditto, by the way.” He wrapped a hand around her neck and eased her closer, and then kissed her gently.

  The drive to Tiger Point took fifty minutes. In that time, Newman had Hope in jail and out of it in several different scenarios.

  “We’re going on the run if we can’t clear her name, Cubby. You just need to know that, okay?”

  “I’ll get you out,” Tex said from the rear, seated beside Buster.

  “You Texans always got to go for big gestures,” Buster said.

  “Make her a cake then. You could put a file in it.”

  “There’s a thought.”

  Cubby rolled his eyes. They were still smack talking as they pulled up in the parking lot below Tiger Point.

  “That Blazer is a rental, and looks like the one I saw at the Wildlife house.” Cubby pointed to the silver vehicle.

  “You think he’s still up there?”

  “He may be digging a big hole,” Newman said, eyeing the car but thinking about how he was going to hurt Jay Herald.

  “He just may be,” Cubby said. “You three need to behave yourselves, you got that?”

  “Aww, dad, where’s the fun in that?” Buster said.

  “Katie dug up some interesting stuff on Jay Herald, that to my mind points to him as the main suspect.”

  “And you’re just telling us now?” Newman said.

  “I’ve been processing it, bud. Now I have, I can see what he’s about. I think he got scared finding Hope here. Scared when she started talking about pressing charges about wrongful dismissal, and when she threatened him, it provoked him into setting her up.”

  “By doing that she’d be locked away and couldn’t come after him again,” Tex said. “The man needs to be worked over, so he understands you can’t treat people like that.”

  “We’re not working anyone over,” Cubby said. “We do this by the book.”

  They all nodded as he looked at them, but Newman had other ideas. He wanted his fist in Jay Herald’s face, and no one was stopping him.

  The climb was steep, because they took the shorter route for more experienced trampers. It cut off thirty minutes.

  “Odds are that limp dick took the longer one,” Tex said.

  Newman grunted his agreement. Thoughts churned inside his head, about Hope and the future he dared to dream of with her. She loved him. That one made him warm inside.

  “You spoken with your parents yet, Newman?”

  “About what, Buster?”

  “That we know you were adopted.”

  “I have actually. Mom’s okay, Dad not so much.”

  “The thing is, bud, you don’t owe anyone anything, least of all your dad. I mean sure, he adopted you, but that was because he wanted a son. Seems to me he didn’t really understand the concept of how that’s supposed to work,” Cubby said.

  “I’m getting my head around it slowly,” Newman said. “But the thing is, now I have Hope, I feel stronger somehow. Like I don’t give a shit about what anyone thinks anymore.”

  “You burst into song, I’m shooting you,” Cubby said.

  “Or tell us you love us. That’s gonna earn you a few bruises,” Buster added.

  Newman snorted. These were his people, and they had never wanted anything from him but friendship. It had taken a few years, and Hope coming into his life, for him to realize that.

  “So you’re not going to be Captain Do-gooder anymore?”

  “I’m thinking of hanging up that cloak,” Newman said to Buster.

  When Cubby raised a hand, they fell quiet.

  “Someone’s coming, move off the trail and hide. I don’t want him to feel threatened if it’
s limp dick.”

  They did. Newman crouched behind a bush with Tex and Buster. Cubby stayed on the trail.

  “Sh-sheriff Hawker.”

  Jay Herald appeared over the brow of the hill. He carried a backpack. Newman couldn’t see much through the bush, but enough to note the bag looked empty.

  “Mr. Herald, you’re a long way from Wildlife headquarters. You taking in some local scenery while you’re here?”

  The man nodded so quickly it was amazing his neck didn’t snap.

  “Yes indeed, none finer.”

  “Strange that you aren’t carrying your camera, you being a photographer and all, and this being such a beautiful spot for pictures.”

  “Oh… well yes, it’s in my backpack. But I thought to clear my head, so I haven’t used it. It’s been a trying time, what with the robbery and assault on one of us.”

  “Sure has. So, have you been down to Tiger Point? Nice set of caves in there. Some say there’s buried treasure, but I’ve never found it.”

  “Tr-treasure, you say?”

  Jay’s voice was squeaky, and Newman could hear his panic.

  “Want to accompany me to the caves, Mr. Herald? I could show you the sights.”

  “Ah, no, thank you, Sheriff.”

  “Well, you be on your way then, and I’ll go see if I can find those items you’ve just buried up there.”

  “What!”

  “I believe you heard me, Mr. Herald.”

  “I— How dare you accuse me of… of that.”

  “Of stealing your coworkers’ property, and planting it at Ms. Lawrence’s house. Pointing a shotgun at a coworker, and then knocking her to the ground, and let’s not get started on what you did to Ms. Lawrence earlier this year that resulted in her dismissal and the stain on her otherwise pristine reputation.”

  “Casey will be hearing about this ridiculous accusation, Sheriff!”

  “You see that she does, and while you’re talking to her and her daddy, you be sure to tell them about your record. Jason Herald, John Herald. You really should have used a better alias. Plus, you tried to pull the same deal at your last job, but they were on to you. You should really try getting promoted through the usual channels. It’s better all round in the long run.”

  “H-how did you—”

  “I am very good at what I do, limp dick. Now turn around and put your hands together.”