by Gregg Stutts
The lump in his throat would only allow him to whisper. “Really?”
She hugged him tight and kissed him. “Really.”
The embrace lasted several minutes and was about to lead to more, until they heard Carrie waking up. “I’ll get her,” Max said. He changed her diaper and kissed her forehead.
Michelle held her while Max brought her up to speed on the night before in Bentonville. When he was finished with the story, she said, “Are we safe, Max? I mean, if they can do all that stuff with phones?”
“I think we’re okay for now.” Even as he heard himself say the words, he was less than convinced. He’d put a little too much emphasis on the word think. The look on Michelle’s face told him she wasn’t convinced either. “Dan’s phone is gone now. And I never had it turned on here in the house, so there’s no way they could track it here. And I’m not about to start playing defense. I know what happened that night. And the best defense is a good offense.”
“So, what are you going to do?” she said.
“Well, Blair Morgan is a liar. We know that for sure.” He got up and looked outside. “I don’t know what she has to gain from the Freedom Protection Act, but if I find that out, I think this all begins to make sense.”
“But it looks to me like anyone who’s tried that has turned up dead.”
“I know, Shelle, but nobody else saw it. Nobody else knows the truth. I know Dan Jenkins didn’t kill those cops. And I know the guys in the SUV work for Blair. We saw her with one of them at the restaurant.”
“Well, speaking of all that, I saw on the news last night that the three Freedom Commissioners are in place now and will begin to rule on any complaints brought before them as early as the day after the election,” she said.
“They must be feeling pretty confident the vote won’t overturn the law.” He shook his head and ran his hands through his hair. “Doesn’t it seem strange to you that no one is outraged?” He went to the front door and brought the morning paper in while Michelle poured more coffee.
“I don’t believe this,” he said.
“What’s wrong?”
“This story says they’re looking for volunteers. They’re calling them, ‘Guardian Angels,’ who will be trained to monitor churches in town. They’ll be taught to listen for any language deemed to be ‘inflammatory, insensitive or insulting.’ Blair Morgan is quoted. ‘We can’t allow people to hide behind their religious dogma as they discriminate against those who happen to have a different set of beliefs. It’s time to shine the light of day on the darkness hiding in many of our churches today. We want Lakeside to be a safe and tolerant community for all people.’”
“Except for anyone with beliefs that disagree with her,” Michelle said. “I just don’t get it. How does she have the power to pull this off?”
“I don’t think she does,” he said. “But somebody does.”
Chapter 65
Max entered just before seven-thirty and was immediately greeted by the smell of bacon and coffee. “Order up!” The cook set two plates at the window, which the waitress behind the counter immediately set in front of a couple regulars sitting at the counter.
Max shook hands with a table of Lakeside old-timers who asked about the start of fall practice and wished him well in their opening game against “that team from up north.” He made his way to the corner booth. It was his favorite breakfast spot. Just a couple blocks from the high school, reasonable prices and strong coffee. He checked his phone. He had about an hour before he needed to be at the high school for day two of practice. Willy entered a few minutes later and sat down.
The server brought two cups of coffee. Max ordered an omelet with sausage links and hash browns. Willy ordered two pecan waffles with bacon. As the server walked away, Willy added, “Make that extra bacon.” He winked at Max. “Rose doesn’t need to know everything.”
“How’s Rose doing, by the way?”
“Still putting up with a bit of a headache,” he said, “but she never complains.”
Max took a sip of coffee. “I don’t have a lot of time, so I’ve been thinking…there are two people who might be able to help us. Mike Ellis, the police chief, is one.”
“Ex-police chief,” Willy said.
“Yeah, ex,” Max agreed. “Anyway, the other person is Dan’s widow. I’m just not sure how I’d feel approaching her. You know, after seeing her husband with a bullet in his forehead.”
“I’ll try to get in touch with her,” Willy said. He started to say something else, but stopped.
“What is it?” Max said.
“You started practice yesterday, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, if you can call it that. We didn’t look very good. And we’ve got a game in less than three weeks.”
Their server brought their food and refilled their coffee.
“Lord, I know it can’t be as good as Rose’s biscuits and gravy, but thank you for this food,” Willy prayed.
Max finished several bites of his omelet. “I’ll work on finding our former police chief. He’s got to know something.”
Willy stabbed a couple bites of his waffle and dragged them through some syrup. “I heard the chief left town the day after he resigned. I don’t think he’s going to be in the mood to be found.”
Max leaned across the table and said, “If I don’t find him, then I’ll find somebody who knows something. I know too much of the truth.” He stood up. “I need to use the restroom. I’ll be right back.”
The man at the next booth looked familiar, but Max couldn’t place him. He nodded, but the man looked away. When he came back from the bathroom, he was gone. Forty minutes later, Max waved off a fourth cup of coffee. “I won’t sleep for a week.”
“Will this be together?” the server asked.
“Together,” both men said. They looked at one another then both reached for the check the server held in front of her.
Willy was able to snatch it from her hand first. “I’ll let you buy my breakfast on one condition,” Max said. “You have to let me talk to Dan’s widow.”
Willy studied him for a moment. “Deal, but only if you let me track down Mike Ellis.”
“So I thought you said he’d be hard to find,” Max said as both men stood to leave.
Willy opened his wallet, pulled out two twenties and dropped them on the table. “Let me worry about that.”
Willy’s tone was so different than anything Max had heard from him before; it stopped him in his tracks. Their eyes met for a moment, then Willy nodded toward the door signaling Max that nothing more needed to be said and it was time to go.
Chapter 66
An hour later, as his team was stretching before practice, Max was replaying the breakfast conversation with Willy and how he was going to find time to make contact with Dan Jenkins’ widow. Somehow Blair Morgan was implicated in the deaths of at least six people. Maybe more. The thought of her getting away with it made him wish he could strap on a helmet and shoulder pads and hit something. Or someone.
But the immediate task at hand was getting his team ready to play their first game. It wasn’t for almost three weeks, but they had a scrimmage in four days against Russellville. It would be a good tune-up, but it would be nothing like playing Bergen Catholic whom they’d face in their opening game. He’d never admit it to anyone, but if it were possible to get out of playing one of the best teams from the state of New Jersey, he’d do it. When the game was scheduled three years earlier, it had sounded like a great idea.
Fortunately, by the end of the second day of practice, he was feeling slightly better about their chances. Not to win, but to not be run off the field in the first half. After sending the players home at noon, Max and his staff spent the next two hours watching Bergen Catholic game film. The game wouldn’t matter when it came to conference standings, but he wanted to represent the school and the state well. Plus, he didn’t want his team’s confidence destroyed going into their conference schedule.
By two o’c
lock, they’d watched the first half of their state championship game from the previous year. No one said it, but they had to be thinking what he was—it was like watching a college team. The quarterback they’d be facing was already committed to Penn State and was rated as the fifth best quarterback in the nation. He’d received scholarship offers from over thirty universities. One of their wide receivers was rated as the tenth best in the nation and another was eighteenth. Not one Lakeside player was ranked in the top three hundred players in the nation.
Max let the assistants go home at two o’clock. He planned to put in a few more hours, but by 3:15, he could hardly keep his eyes open and put his head down on the desk, telling himself it would just be for a moment.
And then he was jolted awake and grabbed his phone. “Hello…hello?” But it kept ringing. He looked to see who was calling and saw no one was. It was the alarm he’d set to be sure he’d be home by 6:00, which was disorienting because he was sure he’d set it for 5:20. It took a moment for him to realize he’d slept for over two hours, which also explained the ache in his neck.
He rubbed his eyes and stretched, then packed his briefcase. He’d just lost two hours of valuable prep time he couldn’t get back. He stared at his phone and debated calling Michelle to say he wouldn’t be home when he’d promised. But she’d been alone all day with Carrie and would need a break.
At 5:58, he entered the house and was greeted by the aroma of Michelle’s homemade spaghetti sauce. Since he was a kid, spaghetti and meatballs had always been his favorite meal. He kissed her and then immediately went for a slice of the hot garlic bread.
“Why don’t you pour yourself a glass of wine and sit down and relax?” she said. “I’ll get dinner dished up.”
He sat at the table and poured a glass of wine. Michelle set a plate in front of him and sat in the chair next to him.
“So, would you like to hear what I’m going to do with you tonight?” she said.
His mouth was full of pasta, but he smiled and nodded enthusiastically.
“Well, first I’m going to use my…” Michelle was interrupted by Carrie’s cry from the bedroom.
“What?” Max said after swallowing. “You’re going to use your what?”
She grinned at him. “Go get Carrie for me.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said. “Be sure to change her diaper.”
He was back in record time and sat down holding Carrie. “So, you were saying something about what you were going to do first.”
“Was I?” she said.
“Yes, you were.”
She took a bite of spaghetti then licked her lips. “Oh yes, now I remember. I’m going to use my…”
Max’s phone buzzed, which he ignored.
“Looks like you’re getting a call.”
“So what?” he said. “They can leave a message.”
She took another bite of pasta then a sip of wine. The buzzing stopped, but immediately started again. “I think you better see who that is.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing important.”
“I think you need to see who that is,” she said.
Max groaned and answered the call. “Hello?” He listened carefully then said, “Oh no.”
Chapter 67
“Max, what is it?” Michelle whispered.
“Okay, I’ll check,” he said. “And yes, I’ll call you back.” He put his phone down.
“What’s wrong?” she said.
“It was Willy. He said he and Rose are being followed.”
“Followed?” she said. “By who? What did he say?”
“That was it. They were on their way to dinner and Willy noticed a car he thought was following them. When they came out of the restaurant after dinner, they saw the same car in the parking lot.”
“Maybe it just looked like the same car.”
“I don’t think so. After they’d been home for about thirty minutes, Willy was wheeling their garbage can out to the street and saw the same car parked a couple houses away.”
“What’s he going to do?”
“I don’t think they’re going to do anything right now, but he wants me to see if I’m being followed too.”
“How would someone know to follow Willy?” she said. “Or you?”
“Well, the police did question him about his phone number showing up on Dan’s phone records,” Max said, trying to figure it out himself as much as answer Michelle’s questions.
“So, Willy thinks the police are following him?”
“I don’t know. And I don’t even know if I’m being followed. So let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” He handed Carrie off to Michelle and went into the half bathroom just inside the front door. Michelle followed him in. With the light off, he could peak through the blinds and see anyone out front without being too obvious. As he slowly parted the blinds, he could feel Michelle’s breath on the back of his neck.
“Whose car is that?” she whispered.
“I don’t know,” he said. “It wasn’t there when I came home.”
“Is there anyone in it?” she said.
“It’s hard to tell, but there’s one way to find out.” He closed the blinds. “I’m going out the back door and cut through the neighbor’s yard, then I’ll slip across the street and come up behind him.”
“What are you talking about? You’re going out there? I think we should just call the police,” she said.
“Shelle, I’ll be honest, I’m just not sure who to trust right now. After everything that happened last year…I don’t know.”
“I don’t like this, Max.”
“I won’t do anything stupid. I’m just going to see if anyone is in the car.” He went to the back door and stopped. “Maybe you should get ready in case we need to…”
“What? Make a get-away?” she said.
“Yes, make a get-away,” he said.
“Before you go…” She kissed him. And not just a peck on the lips.
“Wow. I hope that wasn’t a goodbye kiss.”
“Do you remember when we were on the run last year, I said how much I liked ‘fugitive sex’?”
“Yeah, okay, Mrs. Smith.”
“Huh?”
“You know, that movie with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie? Mr. and Mrs. Smith?” he said.
“But weren’t they trying to kill each other?” she asked.
“Oh yeah. They were. But they were married and they were spies, right?”
She kissed him on the cheek. “Please be careful.”
“I will. I promise.”
“Wait…before you go…” She set Carrie in her swing and hurried to the bedroom. She came back with the handgun they kept in their bedroom closet.
“Really?” he said. “Is it even loaded?”
“It’s loaded. Safety is on,” she said.
He stuffed the gun in the back of his jeans just like they did on television, then went out the back door and made his way through the neighbor’s backyard. Fortunately, their dog was inside and it was just dark enough for him to remain hidden in the shadows. He crept up the side of their house and crossed the street, which put him about thirty yards from the car in question.
He moved slowly, trying to remain undetected. At least that was the hope. He got close enough to hear a man talking on the phone, “Yeah, he’s still inside. I’ll call you if he leaves.”
Max waited for him to hang up and then made his move.
Chapter 68
Willy pulled the curtain back slightly from the window in the spare bedroom. The same car was still parked a couple houses away on the other side of the street. He walked back to the living room where Rose was sitting in her favorite spot on the sofa reading her Bible and drinking a cup of tea.
She smiled and motioned for Willy to come sit with her. He sat down and held her hand. “Are you worried?” she said.
“Not about me.” Willy was quiet for a moment. “I don’t want anything to happen
to Max, Michelle and the baby. Or you.”
“I know.” Rose closed the Bible and set it on the end table. “I imagine you’ve seen a lot worse than this.”
Willy nodded.
“I’m glad I never knew what you were up to. I would just always ask the Lord to keep His eye on you,” she said.
He squeezed her hand and pulled her closer. “This isn’t like the stuff with the football foundation last year. We’re dealing with pros this time.”
