Dead End Road

by Lori Whitwam

  Abby blushed. “Oh, I don’t think it’s because of me.”

  “Don’t kid yourself. He’s been a lazy, brain-dead bum for I can’t even remember how long.” Marsh nodded and one eyebrow lifted. “Yep, it’s you.”

  Seth slid his hand behind Abby’s back and pulled her more closely against his side. Leaning over to kiss her cheek, he whispered, “He’s right. It’s you.”

  She nudged him playfully with her shoulder. “Hey. How about it’s ‘us’?”

  Seth smiled at her and around the table at his friends. “I’d say that’s right.”

  “Then you better not screw this up, Caldwell,” Mouse declared.

  “Doin’ my best here, bro.” In fact, it was becoming increasingly clear to him “us” was the only thing nonnegotiable. He needed her. Whether they were a family of two or eight didn’t matter, as long as he was with Abby. As soon as they were home, he’d find the right time to tell her.

  Roberto looked at the clock near the bar and said, “Hey, Mouse, we better get on the road.”

  “Damn, you’re right.” Mouse slid out of the booth.

  In the parking lot, they bid good-bye to Mouse and Roberto, who went to claim their luggage and rental car from the motel across the street. Seth was about to ask Marshall what his plans were for the rest of the day when Sammy Paulsen came outside and approached them. He looked shell-shocked, and more than a little nauseated.

  “Damn shame,” Sammy said. “Kevin had some problems, but I can’t figure how he was caught up in this.”

  “I know, Sammy,” Abby said. “I can’t imagine Kevin being involved on purpose. I think he just saw something he wasn’t supposed to see.”

  “That’s what I think too,” Sammy said.

  Abby looked back toward the club, and then at Sammy. “I can’t believe he’s been down in the basement all this time.”

  If possible, Sammy’s face paled even further. He swallowed and looked at his feet. “It’s my fault, Abby.”

  “What do you mean? You didn’t put him there.” She reached for his arm, but pulled back. Seth wondered what Sammy meant too.

  “That part of the basement was in my search area yesterday. I blew it.” His voice sounded flat and strangled.

  Seth, knowing how it felt to blame yourself, spoke up. “Sammy, he was under a pile of equipment in a dark basement. Anybody could’ve missed it.”

  The young cop didn’t respond to Seth, and continued to direct his words at Abby. “I didn’t do a good job. I was pissed because the chief stuck me with the basement, and I rushed when I heard there were some updates and they needed somebody to go down to the Shamrock and check in with you guys. I wanted to do it so I could check on you, Abby.”

  Well, that answered her question.

  This time Abby did reach out, her hand resting briefly on Sammy’s arm. “You’re a good friend, Sam, but you have to stop worrying about me so much.” Seth knew she was deliberately readjusting the other man’s motivations. “Sure, it would’ve been nice to know about Kevin yesterday, especially for his family, but he was already dead. You couldn’t have saved him.”

  “I know.” Sammy heaved a morose sigh. “I just feel like a giant fuck-up. The chief isn’t happy.”

  “Bob will get over it. You’re a good cop, Sammy.” Abby stepped back and repositioned her backpack on her shoulder. “Be sure and let me know whatever you hear, okay? And when Kevin’s mom figures out all the arrangements and stuff.”

  Sammy said he would, and scurried back inside to do whatever he could to assuage his guilt.

  Seth turned back to Marshall. “So, bud, what’s the plan?”

  “The plan, such as it is, is to visit my new friends at the Shamrock and have some lunch, and possibly a few drinks. How ’bout you?”

  Seth looked at Abby. He’d expected they’d have some new clue to track down after they talked to Kevin. With the possibility eliminated, he didn’t know what Abby planned.

  She, however, was ready to take the ball and run with it. “I think we’re just going to go home, Marsh. Stuff keeps dragging us into town, and when we get here, it gets even crazier. I want to hide out for the rest of the day.”

  “Can’t say I blame you,” Marsh replied. Seth noticed the gleam in his eye, which threatened to lead to a comment about exactly what he suspected they’d be doing while hiding out, but at the last minute he seemed to think better of it. Wow. Was his perpetually sixteen-year-old friend actually maturing?

  “We should get together tomorrow, though, out at my place,” Abby said. This was news to Seth. “I’ll see if Molly’s back yet, and maybe call Monique. I have a ton of leftovers from Mom’s home invasion—I mean, repair—and need some hungry people to help me out with them.”

  While Seth initially found himself inclined to protest anything cutting into his time with Abby, he quickly warmed to the idea. “Yeah, and if they call Danny about the van, we could invite him too.”

  “Great,” Marsh said. “Now, there’s a beer with my name on it, and I don’t want it to get warm.” Seth said he’d call him in the morning, and they headed for Abby’s motorcycle.

  “That was a good idea,” Seth said.

  “Well, your friends are starting to feel like my friends too.” She swung one leg over the bike, and Seth was glad to notice she hadn’t taken the sweatshirt out of her backpack for the ride home. “Plus, I don’t want company today, so setting something up for tomorrow felt like a good compromise.”

  “And why, exactly, don’t you want company today?” He climbed on the bike in front of her and put his sunglasses on.

  “Haven’t you noticed all this trouble only strikes when we get out of bed?”

  “Since you mention it.”

  She scooted her hips tightly up against him. “I think to avoid further trouble, and maybe even save lives, we should go back there and stay for as long as possible. And it’s not very polite when you have company.”

  Certain it was the most brilliant theory he’d heard in a long time, Seth reached back, guided Abby’s arms around his waist, kicked the bike to life, and roared off toward home.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Abby

  When the motorcycle was safely parked in the garage, Abby went into the house and collapsed on the couch. She pulled off her shoes and socks and wiggled her toes, promising not to subject them to anything more confining than a pair of flip-flops for the rest of the day. Seth was in the kitchen, and she called out to him. “I need wine. I have to call Mom to tell her about Kevin, if she hasn’t heard already, and let her know we’re fine.”

  “And this requires alcohol?”

  “You have to ask?”

  A minute later Seth placed a glass of wine in her hand and settled on the couch beside her. He put his feet on the coffee table, twisted the cap off a bottle of beer, and began flipping channels on the television until he located a NASCAR race. Abby took a fortifying swallow of wine and stared at her phone. Finally, she opted to call Molly before tackling her mother.

  The instant she heard her friend’s shaky voice, she knew something was wrong. “You sound terrible, Molly. What’s going on?”

  “Gee, thanks,” Molly said.

  “You’re worrying me. Talk.”

  “I will in a minute. Tell me what’s going on with you first.”

  Abby filled her in on the unsettling and tragic developments as briefly as possible. To end her story on a happier note, she told her about Seth punching David. That actually elicited a laugh, but there was no doubt her friend was having some trouble of her own. “Now it’s your turn. Tell me why you sound like you’ve been crying.”

  “Craig and I are fighting.” The statement was accompanied by a noisy sniffle.

  Abby had suspected as much, and wondered how many times she needed to kick the jerk in the balls for making Molly cry.

  “You can’t kick him at all, because I don’t know where he is right now,” Molly said. Her comment, and the look of amused concern she got from Seth
, made Abby realize she had once again failed to censor her thoughts. Funny how it was always her most hostile impulses that leaked past the filter.

  “What do you mean, you don’t know where he is?”

  “We’ve been arguing all weekend. It started Friday night, when he didn’t approve of the dress I wore to dinner.” Molly’s voice was getting thick, and Abby thought she was about to start crying again.

  “Molly, he’s a jealous, controlling asshole. And, what? He left you stranded there?”

  “No, he said he was going out to cool down, but I’m done. It’s over, and there’s no point in putting up with his bullshit. So I told him not to bother coming back, and I left all his stuff with the concierge at the front desk.” She squeezed out a giggle, the sound easing Abby’s worry significantly. “And I had my key reprogrammed, so he can’t come storming up here and harass me.”

  “Fantastic! But are you all right?”

  “I wasn’t at first. I cried for a while, then I got it together. I put on the dress he gave me so much grief about, went down to the bar, let several very pretty boys buy me drinks, and now I’m back here.”

  “Alone?” Because a semi-drunken, impulsive, revenge hookup would be a very bad idea.

  “Yes, alone. But also without a ride home. Can you come get me tomorrow?”

  “Of course I can!” She was so thrilled her friend had finally cut a dumbass boyfriend loose before he totally wrecked her heart she’d drive to Mexico. “Listen, how about if I bring you here when I pick you up? We’re doing kind of a cookout thing. Marshall will be here, and maybe another guy from the crew. I’m going to ask Monique, and I know Mom will make an appearance, because I have to call her next and she can smell a social gathering right through the phone.” At that thought, she took another drink of wine. Since it was a foregone conclusion she’d invite her mother, she might as well ask her to bring some of her summer pasta salad.

  Molly said she’d love to come, and she was dying to meet Seth. Abby made her promise to call again later if she needed to talk, finishing her wine before dialing her mother.

  Without even asking, Seth took her glass, refilled it, and returned it. She gave him a grateful smile as her mother answered.

  Marilyn had heard about Kevin. “That poor boy! His mother must be out of her mind. I was going to make up a sandwich tray and take over there, but your cousin has my car right now, changing the oil. I guess I’ll run it by tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, about tomorrow…” Abby told her mother about the plans for the next day, and was assured she would be there with a supersized bowl of pasta salad.

  “I can’t stay long, though, because I’m teaching a knitting class at the craft shop in the afternoon.” Perfect, Abby thought.

  She tossed her phone on the coffee table, tucked up her feet, and leaned against Seth’s side. It was amazing how all the horrors of the last couple of days seemed so far away when it was just the two of them here, alone. She spent a while watching the race and not thinking of anything more distressing than what to heat up for dinner.

  When the race entered a rain delay, Seth stood and stretched. “I hate when that happens. Mind if I check my e-mail?”

  “Sure, go ahead. Use the desktop. You don’t need a password.”

  Seth disappeared upstairs, and Abby heard a soft woof and turned to find Dilbert on the deck. She let him in and performed the head-to-tail examination she’d planned to do earlier. Other than a few burrs, which she picked out and threw away, he didn’t seem any the worse for wear. She decided there was a bath in his immediate future, though.

  Seth came back downstairs and dropped onto the couch. Dilbert jumped up and draped himself across his lap. Seth scratched him behind the ear, and Dilbert let out a blissful groan. Yeah, I know how you feel. The man definitely has great hands.

  “Looks like your guest list is getting longer,” Seth said.

  “Longer? Did you hear from Danny? Is he going to be back tomorrow for the van?”

  “No. But I had an e-mail from Joey. He sent it from the airport. He’s on his way here.” Dilbert twisted onto his back, and Seth complied with a tummy rub.

  “You’re kidding! Why would he do that?”

  “He said he couldn’t stand hearing everything going on and not being able to do anything, and he’s driving Caroline crazy. So he’s coming back, and he’ll wait with Marsh for the bus and help him drive it back.”

  “Not that I won’t be glad to see him, but what does he think he can do? We don’t even have any good leads now, after what happened to Kevin.” Her chest tightened at the memory of Kevin’s body in the dark, cluttered basement.

  “I don’t know. But we’ve always been a team, and he feels like he’s not doing his part or something.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’ll help. Sometimes when we have a problem, just talking and bouncing ideas around does a lot of good.”

  “When will he get here?”

  “He has a layover in Dallas, then a commuter flight from Minneapolis to Brainerd. Marsh is picking him up tonight around nine.”

  The race came back on, and while Seth watched it, she went out on the deck to think. While she was there, she determined the day had warmed considerably, and called for a wardrobe change. She went to her room and found a pair of blue stretch cotton shorts and a sleeveless top. After she changed, she found a blanket in the hall closet and returned to the living room.

  Seth looked up and took in her change of clothes and the blanket. “Going somewhere?”

  “Yes, and so are you. Come on.” She headed for the door. Seth left Dilbert snoozing on the couch and followed her. As they went down the steps into the yard, she made a mental note to hose the awful footprint into oblivion. She needed to erase all evidence of the intrusion from her property.

  When they reached the hammock, Abby tossed the blanket inside, creating a foundation more comfortable and less likely to allow various bits of her body to smush out between the rope weave. Within moments they were nestled in the hammock, side by side, facing each other.

  “You’ve been quiet since we got back,” she said.

  “Yeah. I’ve been thinking.”

  “About…?”

  “Are you sure you want to hear this now?” He slid an arm under her and shifted her more tightly against him.

  “I’m pretty sure I don’t, but tell me anyway. I can help you think about it.”

  Seth’s mouth tightened, and he hesitated. She wasn’t sure if he was deciding whether to tell her at all or searching for the best way to say it. “It’s my fault Kevin’s dead.”

  Her response was immediate and firm. “It most certainly is not.”

  “Yes, it is. Somebody wants to punish me, and they want it bad enough they killed him when he got in the way.”

  “You are not responsible for what some psycho did.”

  “Not directly, no, but it’s because of me. I brought all this trouble here, to you, to Kevin, and to the club. If I’d been on the bus, Marshall and Trent would’ve been hurt too, maybe killed. And it’s driving me crazy, because I flat-out have no fucking idea why somebody wants me dead.” He held her hand, and as he talked he tightened his grip until she had to squeeze back to remind him to relax.

  “It’s not your fault,” she insisted. “None of it. And we will find out who’s behind this and make sure they’re caught and put away. Joey will be here tomorrow, and with three of you putting your heads together, you’ll come up with something.” It broke her heart to think of Seth blaming himself, and she knew the toll it was taking on him.

  “I hope you’re right, darlin’. I can’t stand knowing the people I care about could be in danger because of me. If anything happened to you…” His words choked off, and he hugged her fiercely.

  They lay there a while beside the glittering lake. The cry of a loon trilled, somehow enhancing the silence rather than disrupting it. From time to time, Seth exhaled a long, slow breath, a mannerism Abby had learned meant he was deep in thought. She wondered which
weighty topic had him so preoccupied, but gave him time to work it through.

  Finally, he focused on her with a hesitant smile. “I know we’re supposed to be relaxing, but a lightbulb went on in my head today, and I’m not going to be able to think about much else until I tell you about it,” he said, his hand tracing a circuit from her waist to her hip and back again.

  With the long list of dilemmas they faced, Abby couldn’t imagine which one he wanted to discuss. They all felt slithery and dangerous. She tried to cover her apprehension. “Oh, really? Fluorescent or incandescent?”

  “Funny, funny girl.” Seth said. “But anyway, when you said it was us, I remembered the first night, on your couch in front of the fire, when you said just that morning there hadn’t even been an us. And that’s when the light came on. I knew it’s what mattered, the two of us. Whether we don’t have any kids or a whole bus full, it’s okay. Any family I’d ever have wouldn’t really be a family if it didn’t include you.”

  Abby found herself feeling somewhat skeptical. “You’re sure you’ll be able to be happy—with me—if we never have a baby?”

  “As sure as anybody can be in this world, darlin’. If I’m not with you, my life’s going to be empty, and that’s not a good quality for a parent to have,” he said with a slow shake of his head. “How could I be with somebody who wasn’t you, just so I could have kids? It seems way more selfish to me than making the decision to simply be happy together.”

  Abby allowed herself a sigh of relief. He understood. He really, really understood her position, and accepted it. Even respected it. Maybe she’d change her mind in a few years, but even if she didn’t, now she knew they’d still be okay. Which was wonderful, but now he’d kept his end of the bargain and arrived at a decision on the family issue, she heard the clock ticking and knew she would need to do the same regarding the question of leaving Emporia.

  She wanted to go with him. She knew that. But she couldn’t quite subdue the fear stabbing like a shard of ice behind her eyes, because she was unsure of its source. Was she afraid of change? Of leaving her dull but comfortable routine for uncharted territory? Was she still a little worried Seth would, for reasons making sense to him but not to her, leave her? Or did she think she would someday, somehow disappoint him? Maybe she was afraid of losing her sense of identity. After all, Emporia Abby was the only one she knew. Until she answered those questions, she couldn’t answer him.